Christian Mungiu FjordThe film, the Romanian director’s first English-language film starring Renate Rencef and Sebastian Stan as religious Romanian parents who move to a small Norwegian village and find themselves accused of child abuse, won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
With this victory, Mungiu joins the elite club in Cannes, after winning in 2007 with… 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 dayshis haunting account of illegal abortion in communist-era Romania.
For those keeping score, this marks the seventh consecutive year that Neon has been successful in selecting the Palme winner. Tom Quinn’s independent outfit has been snatched away Fjord For local release before this year’s festival.
In the press conference immediately following the ceremony, South Korean director Park Chan-wook, head of the 2026 competition jury, joked that he did not want to award the Palme d’Or to anyone, “because it is an award I have never received myself.” Then, after a long pause, and with reference to his latest film, he reached the finish line. “But I had There is no other choice.“
Andrey Zvyagintsev Minotaurparaphrasing Chabrol The unfaithful wife As a pure domestic thriller set against contemporary Russia, it received the runner-up prize at Cannes, the Grand Prix. The film follows an executive who is asked to sign off on his employees being fuel for the Russian war effort in Ukraine. Meanwhile, he suspects that his wife may be having an affair.
Zvyaginstev used his acceptance speech to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war. “For millions of people, connecting with art right now is about only one thing: that the senseless killing of people finally stops. And the only person who can stop this meat grinder is you, Mr. President of the Russian Federation. Put an end to this massacre. The whole world is waiting for it.”
The awards for Best Direction were shared between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrosi, co-directors of the Spanish musical drama. La Pola Negraa bizarre Garcia Lorca-inspired saga that spans the ages with Penelope Cruz, Glenn Close and Pawel Pawlikowski for HomelandA cold, melancholy film set in 1949 after novelist Thomas Mann (Hans Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Höller) return to torn post-war Germany after years in American exile.
The Best Actor award went to newcomers Emanuele Macchia and Valentin Campani, who starred in Lucas Daunt. cowarda World War I drama about strange love in the trenches.
The Best Actress awards were also shared between French actress Virginie Efira and Japanese actress Tao Okamoto, who play the lead role in director Ryosuke Hamaguchi’s emotional drama. suddenly. Both actors started crying as they took to the stage to accept their acting gig.
Emmanuel Marie won the award for best screenplay A man of his timea drama of his time, inspired by the life of his great-grandfather, the author and engineer who chose to work for the fascist Vichy regime.
German director Valeska Griesbach won the Jury Prize for her film The adventure you dreamed ofa slow-burning thriller set in Bulgaria, was screened on the last day of the festival.
The Camera d’Or for Best Premiere of a Film in the Official Selection went to Ben Imana From director Clementine Dosabigambo, the first Rwandan director to compete at Cannes. The film explores the quest for justice and reconciliation for genocide survivors in the country.
The ceremony began with the distribution of the Lifetime Achievement Award, an honorary Palme d’Or, to the legendary Barbara Streisand. Streisand, who suffers from a knee injury, was unable to attend, but at her request, legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert paid tribute to her life and career. Hubert not only highlighted Streisand’s incredible achievements in film, music and on stage, but also highlighted her support for the LGBTQ+ community and religious and ethnic minorities. Hubert’s speech was followed by highlights from more than five decades of Streisand’s film work, from Funny girl (1968) and A star is born (1976) to Yntl (1983) and Get to know Fockers (2004).
Through the video, Streisand thanked the Cannes Film Festival for “this wonderful award.” She recalled watching her first foreign films at her local cinema, the Astor. “I was fascinated by those images on the screen. They were so powerful that they are still in my mind. I wanted to be an actress and live in those more interesting worlds.”
Streisand recounted the highlights of her career, and said that being a woman and “an actress who wants to direct” was a major obstacle, noting that it took 15 years to complete her passion project. Yntlto the screen. “But I had to make the movie,” she said. She concluded her speech by celebrating cinema, saying that film “has the magical ability to unite us and open our hearts and minds. This is what we celebrate in Cannes. Thank you for your honor and live the cinema!”
Cannes has often proven to be a strong indicator of awards season. Several of last year’s winners, including Jaafar Panahi It was just an accidentJoachim Trier Emotional valueKleber Mendonça Filho Secret agent And Oliver Lax Siratall of whom received Academy Award nominations, with Emotional value Winner of the Academy Award for Best International Film.
Below is the full list of Cannes Film Festival 2026 award winners.
Palme d’Or
Fjordmonastery. Christian Mungiu
Grand Prize
Minotaurmonastery. Andrey Zvyagintsev
Jury Prize
The adventure you dreamed ofmonastery. Valeska Griesbach
Best director
Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrosi La Pola Negra; Paul Pawlikowski L Homeland
Best scenario
Emmanuel Marie L A man of his time
Best Actress
Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto suddenlymonastery. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Best Actor
Emanuele Macchia, Valentin Campagne coward, monastery. Lucas dont
Golden Camera for Best First Film
Ben Imanamonastery. Clementine Dosabegambo
Palme d’Or for Best Short Film
Para los continentes (To opponents), dir. Federico Luis
Un Certain Regard Award for Best Film
every timeSandra Woolner
Jury Prize Uncertain
Elephants in the mistAbinash Bikram Shah (first film)
Special Jury Prize “Un Certain Regard”.
Iron boyLouis Clichy
Un specific regarding Best Actop
Bradley Fimona Dempest, Congo boymonastery. My friend Faryala
Un certain regarding best actress
Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marin Navarro, Mariangel Villegas, Siempre soya to animal maternomonastery. Valentina Morel
This story was originally published on May 23 at 11 a.m
