Cannes 2026: Cristian Mungiu wins his second Palme d'Or for Fjord (complete list)

Virginie Efira was also rewarded with Tao Okamoto for their performance in Suddenly.

The jury of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, chaired by Park Chan-wook, has delivered its verdict. 22 films were in competition this year, and that’s Fjord by Cristian Mungiu who won the Palme d’Or. The second for the Romanian director already awarded for Four months, three weeks, two days in 2007. He joins the list of double-awarded filmmakers alongside Francis Ford Coppola, Emir Kusturica, the Dardenne brothers and Ruben Östlund.

Fjord tells the story of a pious and conservative family who settle in a small village in Norway and whose parents (played by Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve) have custody of their children removed after a suspicion of abuse. A film that pushes the viewer to think against themselves, beyond their convictions: “It’s a message for tolerance and empathy”, explained Mungiu, even placing a few words in French in his speech:

“The state of the world is not the best, I am not very proud of what we leave to our children, and before asking them to make changes it is important that we make a small change, it should start with us”

The words in French from Cristian Mungiu, the director of the Palme d’Or “Fjord”, on the world left to the next generations.#cannes2026 pic.twitter.com/QtXpsKRapp

— france.tv cinema (@francetvcinema) May 23, 2026

After the collective coronation of the actressesEmilia Perez last year, the Cannes 2026 jury also shared the acting prizes by rewarding Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Coward by Lukas Dhont and Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for Suddenly by Riusuke Hamaguchi. Efira was in tears on stage, also sending a bittersweet message to the audience: “The situation is certainly desperate, but we must not give up on changing it, that’s what Ryusuke looks at all the time, he looks at the best part of us”.

Emmanuel Marre paid tribute to the technicians (“Above all, they are the ones who make the cinema”) by receiving the Best Screenplay Award for Our salvation. The Directing Prize was also awarded to two films: The black bola by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo and Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski, while Minotaur of Andreï Zvyagintsev won the Grand Prix. The Russian director in exile spoke about the war in Ukraine by addressing Vladimir Putin, without naming him: “The only person who can put an end to this butchery is the President of the Russian Federation”.

The start of the closing ceremony was marked by Isabelle Huppert’s tribute to Barbra Streisand (“not a woman object, never, a woman subjectt”), absent for the presentation of her Palme d’Honneur but who had filmed a video message to express all her love for the Cannes Film Festival.

“We are not born Barbra Streisand, we become one”

Isabelle Huppert’s full speech to Barbra Streisand, winner of the Honorary Palme d’Or, who asked the French actress to come and pay tribute in her absence.#cannes2026 pic.twitter.com/iiNUsOIkIx

— france.tv cinema (@francetvcinema) May 23, 2026