Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’ wins Palme d’Or at 2026 Cannes Film Festival, 'Minotaur', 'The Black Ball', 'Fatherland' take prizes

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'Fjord'

Source: Tudor Panduru

‘Fjord’

Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord has won the Palme d’Or of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Further winners on the night included Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, taking the Grand Prix, and a best director prize shared between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s The Black Ball, and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Romanian director Mungiu becomes the 11th filmmaker to win the festival’s top prize for a second time, having first won it 19 years ago with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. He was joined on stage this year by his lead actors, Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. ”We need to wait 20 years to watch these films again and see which ones have stood the test of time,” said Mungiu.

Fjord’s win means Neon extends its remarkable run of holding US rights on the Palme d’Or winner for the last seven editions of the festival, dating back to Parasite in 2019.

While the final days of the festival were overtaken by drama involving growing opposition to Vincent Bollore’s control over Canal+, which has expanded to an open letter now boasting some 4,000 signatories on an international scale, the ceremony was relatively subdued, with acceptance speeches mostly apolitical.

“In a world growing more violent, more authoritarian, where hope is seen as a flaw and difference as a threat, this festival reaches higher,” said Tilda Swinton, when introducing the final award.

The most pointedly political moment came from Zvyagintsev, speaking against the military actions of the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. ”One thing is certain: the massacres must finally stop, and the only person who can end this carnage is the president of the Russian Federation,” said Zvyagintsev. “Put an end to this slaughter; the whole world is waiting for it.”

A minor technical hiccup occurred when Calvo, Ambrossi and Pawlikowski all took to the stage at the same time to accept the shared best director prize. “This was a disastrous mise-en-scène,” joked Pawlikowski, making his speech after Calvo and Ambrossi had made theirs.

The three directors only had one trophy between them on stage, with presenter Xavier Dolan heard joking, “I hope they have two Palme d’Ors”.

It marked the first time the best director award has been shared since 2016, when Mungiu for Graduation shared it with Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper.

The ceremony was hosted by French actress Eye Haidara, who also hosted the opening ceremony on May 12. The nine-person jury was headed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, alongside directors Chloe Zhao, Laura Wandel and Diego Cespedes, screenwriter Paul Laverty, and actors Demi Moore, Isaach de Bankole, Stellan Skarsgard and Ruth Negga.

“To be completely honest, I didn’t want to award the Palme d’Or to any of the films, because it’s an award I myself have never gotten,” joked Park at the post-ceremony press conference.

Barbra Streisand was not present to receive her honorary Palme d’Or, having cancelled her in-person festival appearance last week due to her recovery from a knee injury. Isabelle Huppert introduced a video message from Streisand. “In a crazy, volatile world that seems more fractured every day, it is reassuring to see the compelling movies at this festival,” said Streisand.

Peter Jackson and John Travolta also received honorary Palme d’Ors earlier in the festival.

Prizes have already been distributed in other festival sections, with Sandra Wollner’s Everytime winning the Un Certain Regard prize, Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva taking the Grand Prize in Critics’ Week, and Clio Barnard’s UK feature I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning winning the audience award in Directors’ Fortnight.

Last year’s Palme d’Or went to Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, and the film went on to garner two Oscar nominations.