Cristian Mungiu Wins Second Palme d'Or at Cannes 2026 for 'Fjord'

Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, 58, won his second Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 23 for 'Fjord', a film about an evangelical family facing child welfare suspicions in a Norwegian village. The Grand Prix went to Andrei Zviaguintsev's 'Minotaure', an allegory on state propaganda and the Ukraine war; Zviaguintsev publicly urged Vladimir Putin to end the conflict. The Prix de la mise en scène was shared by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for 'La Bola Negra', a chronicle of gay life in Spain from Franco to present, and Pawel Pawlikowski for 'Fatherland', a black-and-white portrait of post-war Germany through Thomas Mann. The Prix du Jury was awarded to Valeska Grisebach's 'Das geträumte Abenteuer', about an archaeologist in Bulgaria. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the Best Actress prize for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'Soudain', while Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne won Best Actor for Lukas Dhont's 'Coward', a WWI gay love story. The Best Screenplay prize went to Emmanuel Marre for 'Notre Salut', set in 1940 Vichy France. The Caméra d'Or for best first feature was given to Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo for 'Ben’Imana', about post-genocide reconciliation in Rwanda.