Cristian Mungiu Wins Second Palme d'Or at Cannes
Nineteen years after his searing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the top prize at the Cannes film festival, Cristian Mungiu's English-language debut, Fjord, has repeated the trick. The film stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian religious parents who relocate to Norway, where they find themselves accused of child abuse. This victory makes Mungiu, 58, the 10th director to receive two Palmes d'Or, joining the ranks of Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shōhei Imamura, the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, and Ruben Östlund.
Other Major Awards
The runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, was awarded to Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, a dark satire of corruption and infidelity in contemporary Russia. Valeska Grisebach's Bulgaria-set drama about an archaeologist, The Dreamed Adventure, came in third, taking the Jury Prize. The director award was shared between Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball. Both the best actress and best actor awards were jointly awarded to pairs of performers from two films. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto both won the best actress prize for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's care drama All of a Sudden, while the best actor prize went to Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia for the queer first world war drama Coward.
Festival Overview
The 79th Cannes film festival was slightly muted, marked by a number of disappointing returns from various auteurs and a distinct absence of Hollywood glitz. The two US films in competition – James Gray's Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, and Ira Sachs' Aids musical The Man I Love, starring Rami Malek – were both ignored by the judges. Fjord has already been acquired by US distributor Neon, marking their seventh consecutive year taking the top spot. Sean Baker's Anora progressed from winning the Palme two years ago to sweeping the 2025 Oscars.
Jury and Honorary Palmes
Park Chan-wook presided over this year's jury, which included Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloé Zhao, and Paul Laverty. During the closing ceremony, Isabelle Huppert paid special tribute to Barbra Streisand, who was one of three recipients of honorary Palmes d'Or this year, alongside Peter Jackson and John Travolta. However, Streisand was prevented from attending due to a knee injury and sent a lengthy video message to the audience at the Palais des Festivals. She concluded by saying: 'In this crazy, volatile world that seems more fractured every day, it's reassuring to see the compelling movies at this festival, by artists from many countries. Film has that magical ability to unite us, opening our hearts and minds. I'm so proud to be part of this community, so merci beaucoup and vive la cinema!'
Sidebar Competitions
Yesterday, the winners in the sidebar competitions were announced at the festival. Sandra Wollner's Everytime won Un Certain Regard, Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo's Ben'Imana won the Camera d'Or for best first film, and Marine Atlan's La Gradiva won Critics Week. Meanwhile, Too Many Beasts by Sarah Arnold won best European film in Directors' Fortnight, while Clio Barnard's I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning won the Audience award.
