The Norwegian-Romanian film "Fiord" by Christian Mungiu has been named best feature film in the main competition program of the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
The film was awarded the "Palme d'Or", the top prize, at the closing ceremony, which was broadcast on France 2.
The second highest award, the Grand Prix, was awarded to Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev for his film "Minotaur".
"Das geträumte Abenteuer" (A Dream Adventure) by German director Valeska Griesbach won the festival's third highest award - the Jury Prize.
Frenchman Valentin Campan and Belgian Emmanuel Macchia, who starred in the World War I drama “The Coward“, shared the award for best actor. The award for best actress was awarded to Belgian actress Virginie Efira and her Japanese colleague Tao Okamoto for their roles in the Franco-Japanese social drama “Suddenly“ (Soudain).
The award for best director went to Spaniards Javier Ambrosi and Javier Calvo for the melodrama “The Black Balloon“ (La bola negra) starring Penelope Cruz, and to Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski for the biographical film “Fatherland“. The jury awarded the award for best screenplay to French director Emmanuel Marr for his dramatic film “Our Salvation“ (Notre salut), dedicated to the French resistance during World War II.
The festival's best short film award went to “For the Enemies“ (Para los contrincantes) by Argentine director Federico Luis. Rwandan director Marie-Clementine Dusabejamo won the “Golden Camera“, the award for best directorial debut, for her drama “Children of God“ (Ben'imana). Contrary to expectations, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar did not receive any awards, although his film “Bitter Christmas“ (Amarga Navidad), the top prize, was nominated. Also missing from the list of winners was “Moulin“ (Moulin), a film by Hungarian director László Nemes for French national hero and anti-fascist underground fighter Jean Moulin.
The film festival was held at the Palais des Festivals and Congresses in Cannes from May 12 to 23. Honorary “Palme d'Or“ for their dedication to cinema were awarded before the end of the festival to New Zealand director Sir Peter Jackson, creator of the iconic trilogy “The Lord of the Rings“ (2001-2003); popular American actress and singer Barbra Streisand, whose credits include the lead role in the musical drama “A Star is Born“ (1976); and her compatriot John Travolta, whose career began half a century ago with his fiery dance performances in the iconic film “Saturday Night Fever“ (1977).
“Long live cinema!“, Streisand proclaimed, addressing the guests at the closing ceremony.
This year's festival was marked by the absence of Hollywood blockbusters in the main competition program. Some film critics attribute this to Hollywood's demonstrative withdrawal from the Cote d'Azur, where its films have long since stopped competing for major awards. For many years, Hollywood was content with screenings outside the competition at Cannes. Others believe that this represents a paradigm shift in the film industry, where auteur cinema is attracting increasing interest.
The first Cannes Film Festival was supposed to be held in September 1939, but World War II prevented it from taking place. It was not until 1946, a year after the end of the conflict, that a film competition was organized on the French Cote d'Azur. coast.
In the past 80 years, the annual Côte d'Azur festival has only been canceled three times. In 1948 and 1950 due to budget shortfalls, and in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.