Fjord wins Palme d'Or 2026

Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord” won the Palme d’Or on Saturday, May 23, at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, capping the 12-day event on the French Riviera. The prize was awarded by the competition jury led by South Korean director Park Chan-wook. Trade outlets including Deadline and IndieWire published full winners lists after the closing ceremony, and Festival de Cannes has posted the official 2026 palmarès online. “Fjord” is a Romanian director’s return-to-Cannes winner with an international cast and a family drama setup. Deadline reported that Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve star as a Romanian-Norwegian couple who move with their children to the fjord village where the wife was born, only to clash with another family over sharply different ways of living. Festival de Cannes describes the film as centered on the Gheorghiu family, whose friendship with neighbors unravels as schools discover signs of child abuse. (deadline.com) ### Who is behind “Fjord,” and why is this win notable? Cristian Mungiu became a two-time Palme d’Or winner with Saturday’s result. IndieWire said it was his second Palme after “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” in 2007, while Deadline said he is the 10th director to win the award twice. Festival de Cannes’ film page now lists “Fjord” as the 2026 Palme d’Or winner. (deadline.com) IndieWire also said the win extended a streak for Neon, the film’s North American distributor, to seven consecutive Palme d’Or victories. That distribution detail has circulated widely in the trade coverage published after the ceremony. ### Which other films took the main competition prizes? (indiewire.com) Andreï Zviaguintsev’s “Minotaur” won the Grand Prix, according to Deadline and Festival de Cannes. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi shared the best director prize for “La Bola Negra” with Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland.” Valeska Grisebach’s “The Dreamed Adventure” took the Jury Prize. (indiewire.com) Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” won best actress for both Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, Deadline reported. Lukas Dhont’s “Coward” earned best actor prizes for Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, and Emmanuel Marre won best screenplay for “A Man of His Time (Notre Salut).” ### What do “La Bola Negra” and “The Dreamed Adventure” refer to? (deadline.com) “La Bola Negra” was one of the late-arriving competition titles that surfaced repeatedly in prediction coverage before the ceremony. Festival de Cannes describes it as an era-spanning story of three men across different periods, linked by sexuality, inheritance and one of Federico García Lorca’s unfinished works. The site now lists it as an ex-aequo best director winner. (deadline.com) “The Dreamed Adventure,” listed in the official selection as “Das Geträumte Abenteuer,” was another competition title that converted a return-to-the-Palais appearance into a prize. Deadline said Grisebach’s Bulgaria-set drama won the Jury Prize, and the official Cannes selection page places it in the main competition lineup. (festival-cannes.com) ### Who else was recognized outside the top prize? Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo won the Caméra d’Or for “Ben’Imana,” becoming the first Rwandan filmmaker to take that prize with the first Rwandan film to screen at the festival, Deadline reported. Federico Luis won the Short Film Palme d’Or for “The Opponents.” Barbra Streisand received an honorary Palme d’Or and sent a video message because she could not attend in person, according to Deadline and IndieWire. (deadline.com) ### Where does the festival go from here? Festival de Cannes said the 79th edition ran from May 12 to May 23, and the winners were announced at the closing ceremony on May 23. On May 24, the festival published a follow-up item featuring press-conference remarks from the winners, and its website now carries the official winners pages and film entries for the prize recipients. (festival-cannes.com) (deadline.com)