The 79th Cannes Film Festival concluded with Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord winning the prestigious Palme d'Or.
He becomes the 11th director to win the festival's top prize twice.
Grand Prix went to Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, and the Jury Prize was awarded to Valeska Grisebach's The Dreamed Adventure.
Cannes 2026: The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday, May 23, at the Grand Theatre Lumiere, awarding the best from the 22 films. The award ceremony was hosted by French actress Eye Haidara, who also hosted the opening ceremony on May 12. The jury was headed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, alongside Chloe Zhao, Laura Wandel, Diego Cespedes, Paul Laverty, Demi Moore, Isaach de Bankole, Stellan Skarsgard and Ruth Negga.
The Palme d’Or went to Cristian Mungiu’s drama Fjord, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, marking the Romanian director's second Palme d'Or in 19 years. In 2007, he won the coveted prize for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
The Grand Prix — the festival’s second-highest award —went to Russian director Andreï Zviaguintsev’s Minotaur. Zviaguintsev. During his acceptance speech, he pleaded the Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop "the butchery."
Directorial duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi and Paweł Pawlikowski jointly took home the Best Director Prize for La Bola Negra and Fatherland, respectively. German director Valeska Grisebach's The Dreamed Adventure won the Jury Prize.
Here's full list of winners of Cannes 2026 main competition
Palme d’Or
Fjord, Cristian Mungiu
Grand Prize
Minotaur, Andreï Zviaguintsev
Best Actress
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamo for All Of A Sudden
Best Director (tie)
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, La Bola Negra
Paweł Pawlikowski, Fatherland
Jury Prize
The Dreamed Adventure, Valeska Grisebach
Best Screenplay
Emmanuel Marre for A Man Of His Time (Notre Salut)
Best Actor
Emmanuel Macchia, Valentin Campagneshare for Coward
Other awards
Camera d’Or
Ben’Imana, Clémentine Dusabejambo
Short Film Palme d’Or
For The Opponents, Federico Luis.
In the festival's other award sections, Sandra Wollner’s Everytime won the Un Certain Regard prize, and the Nepali feature film Elephants in the Fog, written and directed by debut filmmaker Abinash Bikram Shah, scooped the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva bagged the Grand Prize in Critics’ Week, and Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning took home the audience award in Directors’ Fortnight.
Peter Jackson and John Travolta received honorary Palme d’Ors earlier in the festival. Barbra Streisand, who was supposed to receive her honorary Palme d’Or, cancelled her Cannes appearance due to her recovery from a knee injury.
