Romanian Cristian Mungiu wins Palme d’Or for 2nd time

Pin-drop silence at the closing ceremony and the audience was packed to the brim at the Grand Lumiere Theatre in Cannes.

French-Malian actress Eye Haïdara called Scottish actress Tilda Swinton to the stage.

As soon as she entered the stage wearing a red gown, the silence was broken by applause from the audience.

After a short speech, she handed over the responsibility of announcing the winner to jury president Park Chan-wook.

He was sitting on one side of the stage with eight jury members.

Park Chan-wook took some time before announcing the Palme d’Or winner.

He talked about the importance of bringing the life stories of many cultures, genders, ethnicities, or marginalised peoples of the world to film.

He also explained how this enriches and strengthens the film industry.

Then he said that this is exactly why they have chosen Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’ as the best film this time.

The Grand Lumiere Theater erupted in applause upon the announcement.

Director Christian Munjiu came on stage to accept the award with actors Sebastian Stan and Renate Rainsweg.

This time, by winning the Palme d’Or, he also set a record.

This is the second time he has won this prestigious award. Previously, in 2007, his ‘Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days’ won the best film at the Cannes Festival.

The psychological thriller Fjord is set in a remote, waterlogged mountain valley in Norway.

An American engineer goes to oversee a mega project there. His greed and desire to dominate nature bring him into conflict with the local community.

After ‘Fjord’ received a 12-minute standing ovation at its premiere, critics predicted that the film would be a big hit at Cannes. However, many people did not expect it to win the Palme d’Or.

Best in Cannes
Golden Palm
# Fjord (Director: Christian Mungiu)
Grand Prix
# Minotaur (Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Director (jointly)
# Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrosi (The Black Ball) and Pawel Pawlikowski (Fatherland)
Screenplay
# Emmanuel Marre (A Man of His Time)
Jury Price
# The Dreamed Adventure (Director: Valeska Griesbach)
Actress (jointly)
# Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto (All of a Sudden)
Actor (collectively)
# Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne (Coward)
Short film
# For the Opponents (Federico Luis Tachella)
Camera There (director’s first film)
# Ben’Imana (Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo).