CANNES 2026 AWARD WINNERS: Christian Mungiu Takes Home His 2nd Palme D’Or for ‘Fjord’ (Full List)

NEON has done it again!

The 79th annual Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday night as the jury, headed by Park-Chan Wook, awarded the prestigious Palme D’Or to Christian Mungiu’s Fjord, which the distributor acquired a year ago. This marks Romanian auteur Mungiu’s second Palme after winning it in 2007 for his harrowing drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, and the 7th Palme in a row for NEON.

Fjord stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as a Romanian father and Norwegian mother, respectively, whose lives are thrown into chaos when they are accused of domestic abuse and become the center of scrutiny. The drama also took home other prizes, including the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Contributor Savina Petkova wrote in her review, “The issues at stake in Fjord are ones of power and autonomy, distilled in a harsh, but realistic example. Mungiu’s script sways between the two extremes, asking the viewer to take a side. That very ask, however, is taunting: if you side with the Gheorghius, you align yourself with conservative values (and perhaps people who slap their children as punishment); if you don’t, you’re supporting a system devoid of humanity. In that regard, it’s harder to view Fjord as a social drama with actual concern for its characters as people. Instead, you’re damned if you do show empathy, and damned if you don’t.”

Other big winners include Russian auteur and dissident Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur winning the Grand Prix (second place). Set in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian War, it follows a small-town business executive who discovers his wife has been unfaithful. The drama also won the festival’s Soundtrack for Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine’s score. MUBI will release it in North & Latin America, as well as other international territories.

The festival’s Jury Prize went to The Dreamed Adventure from German director Valeska Griesbach (Western), which centers on a woman agreeing to help an old friend with something illegal on the border between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. The Best Director prize was awarded to both Paweł Pawlikowski for his post-WWII drama Fatherland and duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for their queer epic The Black Ball, which Netflix just picked up.

The festival’s acting prizes were awarded to duos for their exemplary performances. Best Actress was awarded to both Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for their performances in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, while Best Actor was awarded to both Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Coward, a new WWI drama from Close director Lukas Dhont.

Other highlights include Emmanuel Marre winning Best Screenplay for A Man of His Time, Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma winning the Queer Palme, Sandra Wollner’s Everytime winning the Un Certain Regard Prize, and Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’Imana winning the Camera D’Or for best first feature.

See the full winners list below.

• Palme d’Or: “Fjord” by Cristian Mungiu
• Grand Prix: “Minotaur” by Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Jury Prize: “The Dreamed Adventure” by Valeska Grisebach
• Best Director:
  • Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for “The Black Ball”
  • Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland”
• Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for “All of a Sudden”
• Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for “Coward”
• Best Screenplay: Emmanuel Marre for “A Man of His Time”

• Un Certain Regard Prize: “Everytime” by Sandra Wollner
• Jury Prize: “Elephants in the Fog” by Abinash Bikram Shah
• Special Jury Prize: “Iron Boy” by Louis Clichy
• Best Actress: Daniela Marín Navarro, Marina de Tavira, and Mariangel Villegas for “Forever Your Maternal Animal”
• Best Actor: Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset for “Congo Boy”

• Caméra d’Or: “Ben’Imana” by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo

• Short Film Palme d’Or: “For the Opponents” by Federico Luis

• In Competition: “Fjord” by Cristian Mungiu
• Un Certain Regard: “Ben’Imana” by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo
• Parallel sections (first features): “A Girl Unknown” by Zou Jing

• Prix du Jury Œcuménique: “Fjord” by Cristian Mungiu

• Grand Prize: “La Gradiva” by Marine Atlan^[59]
• Rising Star Award: Aina Clotet for “Alive”
• Award for Distribution: “A Girl Unknown” by Zou Jing (Pyramide Distribution)
• SACD Award: Blerta Basholli and Nicole Borgeat for “Dua”
• Canal+ Award for Short Film: “‘Vaterland’ or a Bule Named Yanto” by Berthold Wahjudi
• Discovery Prize for Short Film: “Skinny Boots” by Romain F. Dubois

• Audience Award: “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning” by Clio Barnard
• Europa Cinemas Label Award for Best European Film: “Too Many Beasts” by Sarah Arnold
• SACD Prize for Best French Film: “Shana” by Shana Pinell
• Carrosse d’Or: Claire Denis

• Golden Eye: “Rehearsals for a Revolution” by Pegah Ahangarani
• Special Jury Prize: “Tin Castle” by Alexander Murphy

• Best Film: “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” by Jane Schoenbrun
• Discovery Prize: “Flesh and Fuel” by Pierre Le Gall
• Best Short Film: “Silent Voices” by Nadine Misong Jin

• Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine for “Minotaur”

• Palm Dog Award: Yuri for “La Perra”
• Grand Jury Prize: Lola for “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning”

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