Fjord wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

Cristian Mungiu returned to the top of Cannes on Saturday with “Fjord,” which won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Festival de Cannes, according to the festival’s official winners list. The Romanian director’s film played in competition and stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan, festival materials and trade coverage showed. The award was announced at the closing ceremony after the jury, chaired by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, selected the festival’s top prizewinner. ### Which film won the festival’s top prize? The Festival de Cannes said “Fjord” won the Palme d’Or in the feature-film competition at the 79th edition, whose dates ran from May 12 to May 23, 2026. The official awards page and the winners release both list Mungiu’s film at the top of the feature-film honors. (festival-cannes.com) Festival materials describe “Fjord” as a drama about a Romanian-Norwegian family that moves to a village at the end of a fjord and becomes entangled in a child-welfare investigation after concerns emerge at school. The film’s Cannes page lists it as part of the 2026 Competition selection. ### Why is this a notable Cannes result for Mungiu? Variety identified the award as Mungiu’s second Palme d’Or, after his 2007 win for “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.” The same report noted that he had also previously won Cannes prizes for screenplay in 2012 for “Beyond the Hills” and for director in 2016 for “Graduation.” (festival-cannes.com 1) (festival-cannes.com 2) The Hollywood Reporter also referred to Mungiu as a previous Palme d’Or winner in coverage of “Fjord” at this year’s festival. That report described the picture as the director’s English-language debut. ### Who stars in “Fjord,” and what is the film about? Festival press-conference materials for May 19 listed Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed and Mungiu among the participants for “Fjord.” Trade reviews from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter also identified Stan and Reinsve as the film’s lead actors. (variety.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) The Hollywood Reporter’s review said Stan plays Mihai and Reinsve plays Lisbet, parents whose family comes under scrutiny in Norway’s child-protection system. Variety described the film as a study of a Romanian evangelical family in Norway facing a child-abuse investigation. (festival-cannes.com) ### What else did Cannes award on closing night? The festival’s official list said the Grand Prix went to “Minotaure” by Andreï Zviaguintsev. Best Director was shared by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for “La Bola Negra” and Pawel Pawlikowski for “Fatherland,” while the Jury Prize went to “Das Geträumte Abenteuer” by Valeska Grisebach. (hollywoodreporter.com) The same release said Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto won best actress for “Soudain,” and Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne won best actor for “Coward.” The short-film Palme d’Or went to Federico Luis for “Para Los Contrincantes.” ### Where can readers find the official record of the result? (festival-cannes.com) The Festival de Cannes published the full 79th winners list on its website on May 23, 2026, and its awards page says the 2026 winners can be viewed online. Festival materials also include a winners’ press conference published on May 24. (festival-cannes.com) The next public reference point is the festival’s official awards archive and film pages, which now list “Fjord” as the 2026 Palme d’Or winner and include the competition entry’s production and press details. (festival-cannes.com) (festival-cannes.com)