Cristian Mungiu Wins Cannes Palme d’Or for Fjord Drama

Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for “Fjord,” a drama set in Norway about political polarization, marking his second time receiving the festival’s top honor. Mungiu, who previously won the award in 2007 for “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” becomes only the 10th director to achieve the feat.

“Fjord” stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian Evangelicals who move to Norway, where their children are taken by child services after they spank them. Mungiu described the film as a story about what he called leftwing fundamentalism. “Today the society is split. It’s divided. It’s radicalized,” Mungiu said. “This film is a pledge against any type of fundamentalism. It’s a pledge for these things we quote very often, like trauma and inclusion and empathy. These are lovely words but we need to apply them more often.”

The win extends a remarkable streak for the specialty distributor Neon, which has now distributed seven consecutive Palme d’Or winners, including last year’s champion, Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” and the 2024 winner, “Anora,” which went on to win the Oscar for best picture.