Cristian Mungiu claimed his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night, as “Fjord” brought Neon its seventh consecutive top prize from the Croisette.
The win extends a run for the U.S. distributor that has reshaped the modern Cannes record books. Neon arrived at the 79th edition with pre-festival deals already in place on six competition titles – “All of a Sudden,” “Fjord,” “Hope,” “Paper Tiger,” “Sheep in the Box” and “The Unknown” – giving it six chances at continuing a streak that began with Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” in 2019 and also took in Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident.”
“Fjord” represents a notable departure for Mungiu, his first film shot in English and Norwegian rather than his native Romanian. The director’s debut Palme came in 2007 for “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” which announced him as a defining voice of the Romanian New Wave.
“Many a great world cinema auteur has come unstuck when venturing farther afield, but in Mungiu’s case, the journey makes perfect sense: So much of his work has been preoccupied with globalization, migration and cultural divides between eastern and western Europe that ‘Fjord’ feels immediately of a piece with his searching, bristling oeuvre, despite its crisp new setting,” wrote Guy Lodge, reviewing the film for Variety.
This year’s Cannes competition jury was chaired by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, with members including Chloe Zhao, Demi Moore and Stellan Skarsgård. Tilda Swinton presented the Palme d’Or at the Grand Théâtre Lumière ceremony.
Elsewhere in the competition, Lukas Dhont’s WWI drama “Coward” saw leads Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne share the best actor prize. Best actress honors were likewise split between Virginie Efira and Japan’s Okamoto Tao, both leads in Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “All of a Sudden.” Emmanuel Marre took best screenplay for “A Man of His Time.”
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” took the Grand Prix, while Valeska Grisebach’s “The Dreamed Adventure” claimed the jury prize. Best director was shared between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for “The Black Ball” and Pawel Pawlikowski for “Fatherland.” The Camera d’Or for best first feature went to Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo for “Ben’Imana,” with Federico Luis claiming the short film Palme d’Or for “For the Opponents.”
The ceremony also saw Barbra Streisand receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Unable to attend due to a knee injury, Streisand gave her acceptance via video, with Isabelle Huppert presenting the award.
