Cristian Mungiu wins second Palme d’Or at Cannes for child abuse drama Fjord

Key Points:

• Cristian Mungiu’s English-language debut, Fjord, won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, making him the 10th director to win two Palmes, following his 2007 win for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
• The Grand Prix went to Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, a satire on corruption in Russia, while Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure received the Jury prize.
• Best director awards were shared between Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball; best actress prizes were jointly awarded to Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for All of a Sudden, and best actor prizes to Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia for Coward.
• The festival was noted for a subdued atmosphere and lack of Hollywood presence, with US films Paper Tiger and The Man I Love overlooked by the jury; Neon acquired Fjord, marking their seventh consecutive year with the top prize.
• Honorary Palmes d’Or were awarded to Barbra Streisand, Peter Jackson, and John Travolta, with Streisand delivering a video message emphasizing film’s unifying power; additional sidebar awards included Sandra Wollner’s Everytime (Un Certain Regard) and Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben Imana (Camera d’Or).