Fjord, directed by Romanian-born Cristian Mungiu, won the Palme d'Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, while director Na Hong-jin's Hope failed to win an award.
On the 23rd (local time) at the closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival held at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes, France, Cristian Mungiu's Fjord won the top prize, the Palme d'Or.
Fjord tells the story of a Romanian-Norwegian couple who move to a remote village and clash with their neighbors over child-rearing methods and religious issues. Cristian Mungiu, who won his first Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, received his second Palme d'Or. At a press conference after the closing ceremony, he said, "We must know and respect that not everyone uses the same methods to survive. We must leave a less violent world for the next generation of children, not for ourselves."
The second prize, the grand prize of the jury, went to Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur. Minotaur, set in Russia in 2022, portrays a successful CEO whose life is shaken as he is swept up in turmoil both inside and outside his company. It was particularly praised for depicting the CEO's dilemma as someone conscripting personnel for the Russia-Ukraine war alongside his anguish as a husband discovering his wife's affair. In addition, the jury prize went to Germany's Valeska Grisebach's The Long-awaited Adventure.
The best director award was shared by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for La bola negra and Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland. La bola negra, based on an unfinished play by Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca, premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and drew attention for receiving a standing ovation that lasted about 20 minutes.
The acting awards were also shared. The two leads of Lukas Dhont's Close, Émanuelle Macia and Valentin Cangagne, jointly won the best actor award. The best actress award was shared by the two leads of Ryusuke Hamaguchi's new film All of a Sudden, Virginie Efira and Okamoto Tao.
The honorary Palme d'Or, an award akin to a lifetime achievement honor, was given to singer and actor Barbra Streisand. In a video message, she said, "I believe that everyone gathered here today shares my passion for film. Film has a magical power to bring us together and open our hearts."
Korean film Hope, which competed in the festival, unfortunately did not win an award. Regarding this, director Na Hong-jin said, "What matters most now is the roughly two months left until meeting Korean audiences," and added, "From now on is the decisive stage of finishing work. I will focus on raising the film's completeness as much as possible during the remaining time before release."
Although there were no award winners, Korean films received praise at this Cannes Film Festival: in addition to Na Hong-jin's Hope, Yeon Sang-ho's Invasion was invited to the midnight screening section, and Jung Joo-ri's third directorial work Dora was also invited to Directors' Fortnight and received favorable reviews. Notably, Park Chan-wook served as jury president—the first Korean to do so—demonstrating the competitiveness of Korean cinema.
[Photo] ©Gettyimages (unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited)
[OSEN]