Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord,’ a deep drama about a Christian family in Norway, won the Best Film award at the Cannes Film Festival. This is the second time Mungiu has won the prestigious Palme d’Or.
At the star-studded closing ceremony on Saturday, Mungiu received the top prize. The film stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, and centers on a clash of values when a religious family moves from Romania to a Norwegian village.
The story follows Evangelical Christians who move to Norway but soon have their children taken away by child protection authorities for spanking them. Mungiu called it a story about 'left-wing extremism.' Based on true events, the film stands out for questioning what are supposedly progressive Norwegian values and its child welfare system.
“This is a message about tolerance, inclusion, and empathy. These are wonderful values we all cherish, but we need to practice them more often,” Mungiu told the audience.
With this win, Mungiu becomes the 10th director to win the Palme d’Or twice. His earlier film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a drama about abortion in Romania, won the award in 2007.
The Russian war film Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev, depicting a callous businessman drawn into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, won the runner-up Grand Prix. “Stop the slaughter, the whole world is waiting for it,” Zvyagintsev, now exiled in France, told the audience in a message addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Belgian actress Virginie Efira and Japanese actor Tao Okamoto shared the Best Actress award for their roles in Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s nursing home film All of a Sudden. Belgian duo Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne from the gay World War I film Coward also shared the Best Actor award for their roles in the film directed by Lukas Dhont.
Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo won the Camera d’Or for best debut film for the genocide drama Ben’Imana, which she dedicated to “the women of my country.”
