Cannes 2026 Competition Films Ranked: Palme d'Or Goes to Mungiu's 'Fjord'
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival competition, judged by a jury led by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, concluded with the Palme d'Or awarded to Cristian Mungiu's 'Fjord,' a divisive social drama set in a remote Norwegian town. The festival was considered weaker than the previous year's strong lineup. Other major prizes included the Grand Prix to Andrey Zvyagintsev's 'Minotaur,' a political thriller set in Putin's Russia post-2022 Ukraine invasion; Best Director shared by Paweł Pawlikowski for 'Fatherland' and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for 'The Black Ball'; Best Actress shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's 'All of a Sudden'; Best Actor shared by Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Lukas Dhont's 'Coward'; and Best Screenplay to Emmanuel Marre for 'A Man of His Time.' The competition featured 22 films, with notable entries including James Gray's 'Paper Tiger,' Arthur Harari's 'The Unknown,' and Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bitter Christmas.' The festival ran for twelve days, and the ranking from best to worst was published by The New Yorker's critic.
Key facts
- Palme d'Or awarded to Cristian Mungiu's 'Fjord'
- Jury led by Park Chan-wook
- Grand Prix to Andrey Zvyagintsev's 'Minotaur'
- Best Director shared by Paweł Pawlikowski and Javier Calvo/Javier Ambrossi
- Best Actress shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto
- Best Actor shared by Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne
- Best Screenplay to Emmanuel Marre
- 22 films in competition
Entities
Artists
- Cristian Mungiu
- Park Chan-wook
- Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Paweł Pawlikowski
- Javier Calvo
- Javier Ambrossi
- Virginie Efira
- Tao Okamoto
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
- Emmanuel Macchia
- Valentin Campagne
- Lukas Dhont
- Emmanuel Marre
- James Gray
- Arthur Harari
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Léa Seydoux
- Adam Driver
- Miles Teller
- Scarlett Johansson
- Dmitriy Mazurov
- Niels Schneider
- Syuleyman Alilov Letifov
- Yana Radeva
- Valeska Grisebach
- Swann Arlaud
- Hanns Zischler
- Sandra Hüller
- Leonardo Sbaraglia
- Rodrigo Sorogoyen
- Victoria Luengo
- Javier Bardem
- Koji Fukada
- Shizuka Ishibashi
- Takako Matsu
- Sebastian Stan
- Renate Reinsve
- Na Hong-jin
- Jeanne Herry
- Adèle Exarchopoulos
- Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
- Léa Drucker
- Mélanie Thierry
- Ira Sachs
- Rami Malek
- Tom Sturridge
- László Nemes
- Gilles Lellouche
- Lars Eidinger
- Marie Kreutzer
- Laurence Rupp
- Jella Haase
- Guitarricadelafuente
- Penélope Cruz
- Glenn Close
- Asghar Farhadi
- Isabelle Huppert
- Vincent Cassel
- Pierre Niney
- Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Haruka Ayase
- Daigo Yamamoto
- Rimu Kuwaki
- Kimiko Yo
- Léa Mysius
- Hafsia Herzi
- Monica Bellucci
- Benoît Magimel
- Laurent Mauvignier
Institutions
- Cannes Film Festival
- The New Yorker
Locations
- Cannes
- France
- Norway
- Romania
- South Korea
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Paris
- New York
- Bulgaria
- Germany
- Poland
- Spain
- Japan
- Belgium
- Austria
- Hungary
- Iran