The 79th Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday with a Palme d'Or awarded to Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for Fjord, a political drama that examines the clash between progressive and traditional values in a small Norwegian community. The film succeeds Jafar Panahi's A Simple Accident, which won the top prize in 2025.
Fjord follows the Gheorghiu family, devout Romanian evangelicals who relocate to a town on the edge of a Norwegian fjord. Mihai Gheorghiu, played by Sebastian Stan—fresh from his role as Donald Trump in Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice (2024)—is an aeronautical engineer married to a Norwegian woman, Lisbet. When the couple moves back to her native country, Mihai reconnects with her extended family and finds work as a computer programmer within the local evangelical community. The family raises their children with strict discipline and intense religious devotion. Initially welcomed by institutions and neighbors, the situation changes when a teacher notices unexplained bruises on one of the daughters at school.
The Grand Prix went to Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur, succeeding Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value from 2025. In his acceptance speech, Zvyagintsev directly addressed President Vladimir Putin, calling on him to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking in Russian, he said: 'There is someone else I would like to address personally today, in my own name. He is not using a VPN to follow this ceremony live, but I am certain that he has other, much more important decisions to make at the moment. Millions of people on both sides of the contact line dream of only one thing: that the massacres finally stop. And the only person who can put an end to this slaughter is the President of the Russian Federation putting an end to this carnage. The whole world is waiting for that.'
Political Statements and Artistic Freedom
The Best Director Award was shared by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for La Bola Negra, and Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland. Pawlikowski used his moment on stage to address the role of cinema in turbulent times, referencing the anti-Bolloré platform affair that has shaken the festival. 'Cinema must reflect the political situation, but not according to dictated conditions. It takes courage in this world to talk about what people really see. There must be a space of freedom for art. There are more and more people convinced that they are on the right side,' he said. 'Cinema must resist, which is why we made this film.'
Before announcing the best director award, Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan paid tribute to Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish, quoting: 'On this earth, there is what deserves life, the hesitation of April, the smell of bread at dawn, a woman's opinions on men, the writings of Aeschylus. The beginning of love. Grass on a stone. Mothers, standing on a flute's thread. And the fear that memory inspires in conquerors.'
The main competition jury was chaired by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, and the official selection included 19 feature films. The festival's broader cultural role continues to expand, with fashion, luxury, wellness, and tech drawing more attention alongside the films themselves. Last year, Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or for It Was Just an Accident, while Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier took the Grand Prix for Sentimental Value. Juliette Binoche presided over the 2025 jury, succeeding Greta Gerwig, who had chaired the 2024 panel.
For more on the intersection of cinema and politics, see our coverage of Almodóvar's remarks at Cannes and Javier Bardem's comments on toxic male behavior.
