CANNES – After 12 days, a somewhat disappointing 2026 Cannes Film Festival has come to an end. In a ceremony on Saturday evening, the competition jury led by Park Chan-wook handed out some of the most prestigious awards in cinema. And the most coveted prize of all, the Palme d’Or? That honor, announced by Tilda Swinton, went to Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord.” The Romanian director’s morality tale also won the FIPRESCI Prize awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics.

“Fjord” is now the seventh film to be released in the U.S. by Neon to win the Palme d’Or after “Parasite,” “Titane,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anora” and “It Was Just An Accident,” a little over a year ago. Four of those films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Both “Parasite” and “Anora” also won Hollywood’s biggest prize.

Mungui previously won the Palme d’Or in 2007 for “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.”

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Catch up on all of The Playlist’s reviews from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, including “Fatherland,” “Minatour,” “Fjord,” “Las Bolas Negros,” “All of a Sudden,” and more

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The Grand Prix went to Andrey Zvyagintsev’s, “‘Minotaur.” The Jury Prize went to Valeska Grisebach’s “The Dreamed Adventure.”

There was a surprise tie for Best Director with Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “Los Bola Negros (The Black Ball)” and Paweł Pawlikowski, “Fatherland” winning the honor. Emmanuel Marre won Best Screenplay for “A Man of His Time.” Best Actor was awarded to both Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia for Lukas Dhont’s “Coward,” while co-stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto took Best Actress for “All of a Sudden”

Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo won the Camera d’Or for the Un Certain Regard selection, “Ben’Imana.” It was shut out of the UCR awards yesterday.

During the ceremony, Isabelle Huppert accepted the Honorary Palme awarded to Barbra Streisand on her behalf. The legendary actress, singer, and filmmaker could not attend the ceremony due to a knee injury. She appeared in a brief taped message reflecting on her passion for getting her directorial debut, “Yentl” made and that common passion for cinema that binds everyone in the room. Other featured presenters were Geena Davis, Xavier Dolan, Pierfrancesco Favino, Gael García Bernal, Nadine Labaki, and Zoe Saldaña.

This year’s jury included Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård, Laura Wandel, and Chloé Zhao.

James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” and Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love” were two notable films that earned positive reviews from critics but weren’t invited to the awards ceremony.

A complete list of this year’s winners is as follows:

COMPETITION

Palme d’Or – Cristian Mungiu, “Fjord”

Grand Prix – Andrey Zvyagintsev, “Minotaur”

Jury Prize – Valeska Grisebach, “The Dreamed Adventure”

Best Director – Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “Los Bola Negros (The Black Ball)” and Paweł Pawlikowski, “Fatherland” (TIE)

Best Screenplay – Emmanuel Marre, “Notre Salut (A Man of His Time)”

Best Actress – Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, “All of a Sudden”

Best Actor – Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia, “Coward“

Honorary Palme d’Or – Barbra Streisand

Camera d’Or for Best First Film – Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo for “Ben’Imana”

Palme d’Or for Best Short Film – Federico Luts, “For The Opponeents”

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Un Certain Regard Prize – “Everytime,” Sandra Wollner
Jury Prize – “Elephants in the Fog,” Abinash Bikram Shah
Special Jury Prize – “Iron Boy,” Louis Clichy
Best Actor – Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset, “Congo Boy”
Best Actress – Daniela Marín Navarro, Marina de Tavira, and Mariangel Villegas, “Forever Your Maternal Animal”

QUEER PALM

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Jane Schoenbrun

Look for complete coverage from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on The Playlist.

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