Cristian Mungiu Wins Second Palme d'Or at 79th Cannes Film Festival
The 79th Cannes Film Festival concluded with a balanced and consensus-driven awards ceremony, presided over by jury president Park Chan-wook. The top prize, the Palme d'Or, went to Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for his film "Fjörd," marking his second Palme d'Or after winning in 2007 with "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days." The Grand Prix was awarded to Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Minotauro," a political reflection on power and war, during which Zvyagintsev publicly called for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Best Director prize was shared ex aequo between Spanish duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for "La bola negra" and Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski for "Fatherland." The Jury Prize went to Valeska Grisebach's "The Dreamed Adventure," shot in Bulgaria. Best Actress was shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for their roles in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "All of a Sudden." Best Actor was awarded to Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Lukas Dhont's "Coward." The Best Screenplay prize recognized Emmanuel Marre's "Notre salut," a critique of Vichy France collaboration. The Caméra d'Or for best first feature went to Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo's "Ben'Imana" from Rwanda. The Short Film Palme d'Or was awarded to Federico Luis's "For the Opponents." The festival highlighted themes of historical memory, identity, and power.
Key facts
- Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for 'Fjörd' at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
- Mungiu is the second director to win two Palmes d'Or, joining an elite group including Francis Ford Coppola and Ken Loach.
- Andrey Zvyagintsev won the Grand Prix for 'Minotauro' and called for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
- Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo shared the Best Director award with Pawel Pawlikowski.
- Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the Best Actress award for 'All of a Sudden'.
- Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne shared the Best Actor award for 'Coward'.
- The Caméra d'Or was awarded to Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo for 'Ben'Imana'.
- The festival took place in Cannes, France, in May 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Cristian Mungiu
- Park Chan-wook
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Shōhei Imamura
- Bille August
- Emir Kusturica
- Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- Luc Dardenne
- Michael Haneke
- Ken Loach
- Ruben Östlund
- Olivier Assayas
- Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Javier Ambrossi
- Javier Calvo
- Pawel Pawlikowski
- Thomas Mann
- Xavier Dolan
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Valeska Grisebach
- Virginie Efira
- Tao Okamoto
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- Victoria Luengo
- Rodrigo Sorogoyen
- Emmanuel Macchia
- Valentin Campagne
- Lukas Dhont
- Emmanuel Marre
- Swann Arlaud
- Javier Bardem
- Henri Mar
- László Nemes
- Klaus Barbie
- Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
- Federico Luis
- Judith Godrèche
- Annie Ernaux
- Léa Mysius
- Andrei Zviaguintsev
- Jana Radewa
- Vladimir Putin
- Pedro Almodóvar
- James Gray
- Vincent Bolloré
- Maxime Saada
- Sebastian Stan
- Renate Reinsve
- Andrei Zvyagintsev
- Sandra Wollner
- Abinash Bikram Shah
- Louis Clichy
- Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset
- Rafiki Fariala
- Marina De Tavira
- Daniela Marín Navarro
- Mariangel Villegas
- Valentina Maurel
- Lucas Acher Nyu
- Nadine Misong Jin
- Julius Lagoutte Larsen
- Roozbeh Gezerseh
- Soraya Shamsi
- Nicolas Rumpl
- Esther Mysius
- Demi Moore
- Ruth Negga
- Laura Wandel
- Chloé Zhao
- Diego Céspedes
- Isaach De Bankolé
- Paul Laverty
- Stellan Skarsgård
- Paweł Pawlikowski
- Marina de Tavira
- Léa Seydoux
- Sandra Hüller
- Adam Driver
- Rami Malek
- Na Hong-jin
- Los Javis
Institutions
- Cannes Film Festival
- FIPRESCI
- Semaine de la Critique
- AFP
- RFI
- Festival de Cannes
- Canal+
- Zapper Bolloré
- Palais des festivals
- Columbia University
- La Fémis
- Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
- CST (Commission Supérieure Technique)
- France 24
Locations
- Cannes
- France
- Romania
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Spain
- Poland
- Germany
- Bulgaria
- Austria
- Belgium
- Rwanda
- Mexico
- Chile
- Argentina
- Nice
- Lyon
- Norway
- Japan
- Paris
- Switzerland
- United States