Romania’s Fjord Wins Cannes Palme d’Or as Russian Director Calls on Putin to End Ukraine War
Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or for the second time at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, May 23, for his drama Fjord, which stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve in the lead roles. The film, about a Romanian family of Evangelical Christians embroiled in a child abuse case after clashing with Norway’s social services system, was among the most hotly debated titles in Competition. The ceremony at the Grand Thรฉรขtre Lumiรจre in Cannes, France, was also marked by a charged political moment, when the runner-up recipient, Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, addressed President Vladimir Putin from the stage and called on him to end the war in Ukraine. Fortuneeuronews
The Palme d’Or
Romanian director Mungiu became the 11th filmmaker to win the festival’s top prize for a second time, having first taken it 19 years earlier with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The win was also the seventh consecutive Palme d’Or for North American distributor Neon. Global Banking and Financeeuropa
Accepting the award, Mungiu kept his remarks measured. “All awards are contextual, and the fact that you gave me this award, it’s wonderful for us,” he said, referencing his past experience winning and his time serving on the Cannes jury under Steven Spielberg in 2013. Euronews
Jury president Park Chan-wook, the South Korean auteur behind Oldboy and The Handmaiden, explained the jury’s decision. He said he had spent two weeks discussing “films by diverse personalities alongside jurors with diverse personalities,” and that “this double layer of diversity” had brought him happiness. Fjord, he said, shed light on the issue of “respecting the diversities of the world in an artistically magnificent manner.” Euronews
In accepting the prize, Mungiu told the audience: “This is a message about tolerance, inclusion and empathy. These are wonderful values that we all cherish, but we need to put them into practice more often.” Fortune
The Film
Fjord tells the story of a Romanian family of Evangelical Christians who run afoul of the Norwegian social system and find themselves mired in a child abuse case, set against a backdrop of cultural and religious tension. It is Mungiu’s first film in English, shot primarily in Norway in 2025. Sebastian Stan, who was born in Romania and moved to the United States as a child, was making his first film in Romanian. euronewseuronews
The 146-minute drama is a Romanian-Norwegian-Danish-Finnish-French-Swedish co-production, with cinematography by Tudor Vladimir Panduru. Critics at the festival were divided on its sociopolitical allegiances, though that very quality appeared to unite the jury. Hungarian Conservativeeuronews
Zvyagintsev’s Address to Putin
The Grand Prix went to Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur, and his acceptance speech delivered the evening’s most politically charged moment.
Minotaur is Zvyagintsev’s first film in nine years. It is set against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and focuses on a callous businessman whose seemingly perfect life begins to unravel at the same time as requests from local officials to identify employees to be enrolled in the army. Geo News
Zvyagintsev has lived in exile in France since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Speaking in Russian to the packed auditorium, he directed a message not to the festival but to the Kremlin. The Business Standard
“I would like to address one person in my own name. He does not use a VPN to watch this ceremony live. I am sure he has much more important issues to resolve right now. And I know that there are people in his entourage who know how to convey these words to him. Millions of people on both sides of the line of contact now dream of only one thing โ that the countless killings of people finally stop. And the only person who can stop this meat grinder is you, Mr. President of the Russian Federation. End this slaughter already. The whole world is waiting for it,” Zvyagintsev said. WHBL
At a post-awards press conference, he went further: “It is absolutely awful for me to acknowledge what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Before you now, I can tell you that I am ashamed.” Geo News
The Full Awards
The Best Director prize was shared between Spanish directing duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball and Polish director Paweล Pawlikowski for Fatherland โ the first time the award has been split since 2016, when Mungiu himself shared it with Olivier Assayas. europa
The Jury Prize went to German director Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure. Best Actress was shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden. Best Actor was shared by Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, who played Belgian World War I soldiers in Lukas Dhont’s Coward. Best Screenplay went to Emmanuel Marre for A Man of His Time. Euromaidan Press
The Camera d’Or for best first feature went to Ben’Imana, directed by Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo. Euromaidan Press
An Honorary Palme d’Or was presented to Barbra Streisand, who could not attend the festival in person while recovering from a knee injury and accepted the award via video message, with Isabelle Huppert speaking in her honour. Euromaidan Press
Mungiu’s Record at Cannes
Mungiu won his first Palme d’Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a drama set during Romania’s communist era. He has since won Best Screenplay for Beyond the Hills at the 65th Cannes Film Festival and Best Director for Graduation at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. Fjord is his fifth film to compete in the main selection. No other director currently active in world cinema holds a comparable record of consistency at the Palme level. FortuneFortune
The Jury
The nine-person jury was presided over by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and included directors Chloรฉ Zhao, Laura Wandel, and Diego Cรฉspedes, screenwriter Paul Laverty, and actors Demi Moore, Isaach de Bankolรฉ, Stellan Skarsgรฅrd, and Ruth Negga. The closing ceremony was hosted by French actress Eye Haidara, who also hosted the opening ceremony on May 12. EuronewsBloomberg
What Happens Next
Several films from last year’s Cannes competition โ including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, and Oliver Laxe’s Sirat โ went on to receive Oscar nominations, with Sentimental Value winning the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Fjord, with its North American distribution secured by Neon, is expected to enter the 2027 awards season as a prominent contender. Neon acquired distribution rights for multiple territories, including the United States and parts of Europe, in May 2025. Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, distributed by Goodfellas, will receive a wide theatrical release in its territories following the Cannes platform. No response to Zvyagintsev’s speech was issued by the Kremlin. European Business Magazineeuropa
