by Mansour Jahani
The winners of the Main Competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival were announced, and the film Fjord directed by Cristian Mungiu from Romania, won the Palme d’Or award.
According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international film journalist, the closing ceremony and awards ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival was held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2026, in the main hall of the Théâtre Lumière in the Cannes in southern France. The winners of the “Main Competition” of this prestigious cinematic event were introduced by the members of the jury of this section of the festival and received awards in various sections.
Jury members of the Main Competition
The jury members of the “Main Competition” were; chaired by South Korean director, screenwriter and producer Park Chan-wook. He will be joined by American actress and producer Demi Moore, Irish-Ethiopian actress and producer Ruth Negga, Belgian director and screenwriter Laura Wandel, Chinese director and screenwriter Chloé Zhao, Chilean director and screenwriter Diego Céspedes, Ivorian-American actor Isaach De Bankolé, Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, announced the winners of this section as follows:
Palme d’Or Prize
The Palme d’Or award for best film was awarded to the film Fjord directed by Cristian Mungiu, a joint production of Romania, France, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Grand Prix Prize
The Grand Prix of the Jury, the most important award at the Cannes Festival after the Palme d’Or, was awarded to the film Minotaur directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, France, Latvia, Germany.
Best Director Prize
The Best Director award was shared between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for directing the film The Black Ball a joint production of Spain and France and Paweł Pawlikowski for directing the film Fatherland a joint production of Poland, Germany, Italy and France.
Best Screenplay Prize
The Screenplay Award went to Emmanuel Marre for his screenplay for the A Man of His Time a joint production between Belgium and France.
Jury Prize
The Jury Prize was also awarded to the film The Dreamed Adventure directed by Valeska Grisebach, a joint production of Germany, France, Bulgaria, and Austria.
Best Actress
The Best Actress award was also jointly awarded to Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for their roles in the film All of A Sudden a joint production of France, Japan, Germany, and Belgium.
Best Actor
Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne won the Best Actor award at this year’s festival for their roles in the film Coward directed by Lukas Dhont, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
Palme d’Or Prize for Best Short Film
The Palme d’Or award was given to the short film For the Opponents directed by Federico Luis, a joint production of Chile, Mexico and France.
Jury members of the Caméra d’Or Prize
The jury members of the Caméra d’Or Award of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which included; chaired by Monia Chokri, actress, director and screenwriter from Canada, Michel Benjamin, cinematographer from France, Cedric Coppola, film critic from France, Marine Francen, director and writer from France, and Christophe Massie from France, introduced this award as follows:
Caméra d’or Prize
The Caméra d’Or award for best directorial debut went to the film Ben’Imana directed by Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo, a production Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway, Côte d’Ivoire.
Screening of 140 films from directors from different countries
The 79th Cannes International Film Festival, as the world’s most prestigious film event, was held in Cannes, France, under the chairmanship of Iris Knobloch, with the artistic direction of Thierry Frémaux, and with the screening of 22 films in the “Main Competition”, 19 films in the “Un Certain Regard” competition, 12 films in the out of competition, 14 films in the “Special Screenings”, 10 films in the “Short Film” competition, 19 short films in the “La Cinef” (The Cinéfondation) short film competition, 10 films in the “Cannes Premiere”, 34 feature and short films in the “Cannes Classics”, and 10 films in the “Cinéma de la Plage” from directors from different countries around the world, from May 12 to 23, 2026.
For more details:
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-79th-festival-de-cannes-winners-list/
