Cristian Mungiu has won the second Palme d’Or of his career for Fjord.
Cristian Mungiu at the Cannes Film Festival
The 58-year-old Romanian director – who triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – has once again won the top prize at the annual festival with Fjord, the child abuse drama that marked his English-language debut.
Mungiu has become just the tenth director to have received two Palme d’Or awards, following in the footsteps of Alf Sjoberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shohei Imamura, the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach and Ruben Ostlund.
Fjord featured Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian religious parents who emigrate to Norway, where they are accused of child abuse.
Elsewhere, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, a satire movie about corruption in contemporary Russia, claimed the runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, while The Dreamed Adventure came in third, winning the Jury award.
The director award was split between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball, and Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland.
Meanwhile, the actor and actress awards were divided between pairs of performers from two films.
Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia won the best actor gong for Coward, the queer First World War drama, while Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto both won actress accolades for their performances in All of a Sudden, the care drama.
The festival’s closing ceremony also featured a special tribute to Barbra Streisand, who was one of three recipients of honorary Palme d’Ors this year, alongside John Travolta and Sir Peter Jackson.
The acclaimed actress was unable to attend the star-studded event in the south of France because of a knee injury. However, she sent a lengthy video message to the crowd.
Streisand, 84 – who has won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards during her decades-long career – said in the video message: “In this crazy volatile world that seems more fractured every day, it’s reassuring to see the compelling movies at this festival, by artists from many countries.
“Film has that magical ability to unite us, opening our hearts and mind. I’m so proud to be part of this community, so merci beaucoup and vive la cinema!”