Fjord wins – Cristian Mungiu’s English-language debut ‘Fjord’ won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, as Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan’s story of Romanian parents in a small Norwegian village sparks a chilling accusation of child abuse. The night also deli
By the time ‘Fjord’ was named Palme d’Or winner at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, it wasn’t just another entry in Cannes’ long list of winners. It was Cristian Mungiu’s English-language debut—an unusually stark pivot for a director already famous for putting Romanian history under a harsh spotlight.
In the film, Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan play Romanian religious parents who relocate to a small Norwegian village, only to find themselves accused of child abuse. That premise—quiet at first, then increasingly corrosive—became the thread that carried ‘Fjord’ to Cannes’ highest prize.
Mungiu’s win keeps him inside Cannes’ rare “two-timer” circle. He previously won in 2007 with ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, his searing account of illegal abortion in Communist-era Romania. Now. with ‘Fjord’ taking the Palme d’Or. his return to the top of the festival feels less like a repeat and more like a deliberate change of setting—with the same moral pressure.
The evening carried another familiar sign for some awards-season watchers: Neon has now picked the Palme winner for seven straight years. Tom Quinn’s indie outfit also ensured the momentum didn’t stop at the festival gates—snatching up ‘Fjord’ for domestic release ahead of this year’s event.
‘Minotaur’, Andreï Zvyagintsev’s reworking of Chabrol’s ‘The Unfaithful Wife’, took the runner-up prize, the Grand Prix. It was staged as an immaculate domestic thriller set against contemporary Russia.
Cannes spread its top creative honors across two different kinds of craft. Best directing honors were shared by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. co-directors of Spanish musical drama ‘La Bola Negra’. and by Paweł Pawlikowski for ‘Fatherland’. ‘La Bola Negra’ is a García Lorca-inspired queer epic spanning eras and featuring Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close. ‘Fatherland’ is a chilly. grief-laden film set in 1949. following novelist Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) returning to a fractured post-war Germany after years in American exile.
The acting awards landed with the same kind of emotional immediacy. Best actor honors were shared between newcomers Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne. who play the leads in Lukas Dhont’s ‘Coward’. a WWI drama about queer love in the trenches. Best actress honors were also shared. between French actress Virginie Efira and Japan’s Tao Okamoto. who play the leads in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s emotional drama ‘All of a Sudden’. Both performers began to tear up when they took the stage to accept their acting Palme.
Even the writing prize leaned into personal and political unease. Emmanuel Marre won best screenplay for ‘A Man of His Time’, his period drama based on the life of his own great-grandfather—an author and engineer who chose to work for the fascist Vichy regime.
Valeska Grisebach was recognized by the jury with the Jury Prize for ‘The Dreamed Adventure’, a slow-burn thriller set in Bulgaria that screened on the final day of the festival.
The ceremony began with something different: a lifetime achievement award—an honorary Palme d’Or—for Barbra Streisand. Streisand, suffering from a knee injury, could not attend. At her request, legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert paid tribute to her life and career. Huppert highlighted not only Streisand’s achievements in film. music. and on stage. but also her support for the LGBTQ+ community and religious and ethnic minorities. After the speech. a highlight reel traced Streisand’s more than five decades in film. from ‘Funny Girl’ (1968) and ‘A Star is Born’ (1976) to ‘Yentl’ (1983) and ‘Meet the Fockers’ (2004).
Appearing via video. Streisand thanked the Cannes film festival “for this magnificent award.” She recalled watching her first foreign films at her local cinema. the Astor. and said she was “mesmerized by those images on the screen. ” powerful enough that they still stayed “in my head.” She said she wanted to be an actress and live in “those more interesting worlds.”.
Streisand also spoke plainly about what it cost to lead from the front. She said being a woman—and “an actress who wanted to direct”—was a major obstacle. adding that it took 15 years to bring her passion project ‘Yentl’ to the screen. “But I had to make the movie,” she said. She ended with a celebration of cinema. saying film “has that magic ablity to unite us and open up our hearts and minds. That is what we are celebrating in Cannes. Merci beaucoup pour cet honneur et vive le cinéma!”.
Cannes has often fed directly into awards season. Several of last year’s winners—including Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was Just an Accident’. Joachim Trier’s ‘Sentimental Value’. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s ‘The Secret Agent’. and Oliver Laxe’s ‘Sirat’—received Oscar nominations. ‘Sentimental Value’ went on to win the Academy Award for best international feature.
A full list of the 2026 Cannes award winners follows.
Palme d’Or: ‘Fjord’, dir. Cristian Mungiu
Grand Prix: ‘Minotaur’, dir. Andreï Zvyagintsev
Jury Prize: ‘The Dreamed Adventure’, dir. Valeska Grisebach
Best Director: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for ‘La Bola Negra’; Paweł Pawlikowski for ‘Fatherland’
Best Screenplay: Emmanuel Marre for ‘A Man of His Time’
Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for ‘All of a Sudden’, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for ‘Coward’, dir. Lukas Dhont
Special Prize
Camera d’Or for Best First Film
Palme d’Or for Best Short Film: ‘Para Los Contincantes (To Opponents)’, dir. Federico Luis
Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Film: ‘Everytime’, Sandra Wollner
Un Certain Regard Jury Prize: ‘Elephants in the Fog’, Abinash Bikram Shah (first film)
Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize: ‘Iron Boy’, Louis Clichy
Un Certain Regard Best Actor: Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset, ‘Congo Boy’, dir. Rafiki Fariala
Un Certain Regard Best Actress: Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro, Mariangel Villegas, ‘Siempre Soy Tu Animal Materno’, dir. Valentina Maurel
Cannes Palme d’Or Fjord Cristian Mungiu Renate Reinsve Sebastian Stan Minotaur Grand Prix Isabelle Huppert Barbra Streisand