As Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord took the Palme d’Or, many critics left Cannes talking about Minotaur, Zvyagintsev’s acclaimed Grand Prix winner.

CANNES, France — Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu claimed the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night for Fjord, a family drama set in Norway that explores cultural conflict, faith and political polarization. The victory marks Mungiu’s second Palme, nearly two decades after 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days earned him the festival’s top prize.

The Palme d’Or for Fjord was one of Cannes’ more unexpected choices in years, because of the uncomfortable questions it raises; Mungiu’s drama centers on a Romanian-Norwegian Evangelical Christian family drawn into a confrontation with child welfare authorities after allegations of abuse, evolving into a critique of the excessive power exercised by Nordic child protection services. In an era when many European cultural institutions have been reluctant to engage with the subject, Mungiu bravely places concerns about state overreach, parental rights and cultural conformity at the center of a major competition film.

Presented by a jury led by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, this year’s awards favored auteur-driven dramas grappling with questions of identity, history and social division. Mungiu’s film, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, emerged as the festival’s most celebrated title, extending distributor Neon’s remarkable run of Palme d’Or winners.

The Grand Prix, Cannes’ second-highest honor, went to Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur, while Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure received the Jury Prize. For Zvyagintsev, the reception marked a remarkable return after a decade-long absence from filmmaking, much of it spent recovering from serious complications following the Sputnik V vaccine.

Set in a provincial Russian town in 2022, Minotaur follows Gleb (Dmitriy Mazurov), a successful businessman whose carefully ordered life begins to unravel after he discovers that his wife, Galina (Iris Lebedeva), is having an affair. As his marriage deteriorates, Gleb faces mounting pressure from local authorities to provide employees from his company for military mobilization, forcing him into a series of increasingly compromising moral choices. Drawing on Greek mythology and being a loose remake of Claude Chabrol’s La Femme Infidèle, Andrey Zvyagintsev transforms a story of marital betrayal into a broader portrait of corruption, complicity and moral collapse in wartime Russia, using one man’s descent as a reflection of a society trapped within its own labyrinth. Among the supporting cast are Anatoliy Beliy and Artur Smolyaninov, two prominent Russian actors who have been outspoken in their opposition to the war.

In one of the evening’s notable decisions, the Best Director award was split between Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland and Spanish filmmaking duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for La Bola Negra (The Black Ball). The jury also divided both acting prizes. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared Best Actress honors for their performances in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Soudain (All of a Sudden), while Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne jointly won Best Actor for Lukas Dhont’s wartime drama Coward.

Emmanuel Marre earned the Best Screenplay award for Notre Salut (A Man of His Time), continuing a strong showing for films centered on contemporary political and historical tensions.

Outside the main competition, Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner’s Everytime won the top Un Certain Regard prize. Federico Luis took the Short Film Palme d’Or for Para Los Contrincantes, while Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’Imana captured the Caméra d’Or for best first feature.

The festival closed after nearly two weeks on the Croisette marked by a strong international lineup but relatively limited Hollywood presence. Still, the awards reinforced Cannes’ role as a launchpad for the global awards season, with several of this year’s winners expected to become major players on the fall festival circuit and beyond.

2026 Cannes Film Festival — Major Winners

• Palme d’Or: Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
• Grand Prix: Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
• Jury Prize: The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
• Best Director: Paweł Pawlikowski (Fatherland); Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi (La Bola Negra)
• Best Screenplay: Emmanuel Marre, Notre Salut (A Man of His Time)
• Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, Soudain (All of a Sudden)
• Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, Coward
• Un Certain Regard Prize: Everytime (Sandra Wollner)
• Caméra d’Or: Ben’Imana (Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo)
• Short Film Palme d’Or: Para Los Contrincantes (Federico Luis)