Fjord beats Coward, La Bola Negra to become Cannes 2026's Palme d'Or

The two war flicks were among the favourite together with Fatherland and Minotaur, but they also got recognised in other categories.

"La Bola Negra or Coward". Of the 30+ film critics we asked during our time in Cannes, those were by far the two top picks for potential Palm d'Or winners. However, and to the surprise of many, they both ended up taking home smaller, yet prestigious category awards, paving the way for Cristian Mungiu's Fjord to become Cannes 79's Palme d'Or.

While the Grand Prix went for Andreï Zviaguintsev's Minotaur, both Los Javis and Pawel Pawlikowski were recognised as best directors ex-aequo for La Bola Negra and Fatherland respectively. On the other hand, actors were also given in doubles but because they were co-protagonists, with Cowards' Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne picking up the male award, and All of a Sudden's Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto following suit with the female prize.

Here's the full list of awards:

Feature Films

Palme d'or
Fjord
directed by Cristian Mungiu

Grand Prix
Minotaur
directed by Andreï Zviaguintsev

Best Director Prize (ex-æquo)
Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi
for La Bola Negra

Pawel Pawlikowski
for Fatherland

Best Screenplay
Emmanuel Marre
for A Man Of His Time

Jury Prize
Das Geträumte Abenteuer (The Dreamed Adventure)
directed by Valeska Grisebach

Best Performance for an Actress
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto
in All Of A Sudden directed by Hamaguchi Ryusuke

Best Performance for an Actor
Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne
in Coward directed by Lukas Dhont

<bild>Coward.</bild>

Short Films

Palme d'or
Para Los Contrincantes (For The Opponents)
directed by Federico Luis

<bild>Para los Contrincantes.</bild>

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard Prize
Everytime
directed by Sandra Wollner

Jury Prize
Elephants In The Fog
directed by Abinash Bikram Shah
1st film

Special Jury Prize
Iron Boy
directed by Louis Clichy

Best Actor
Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset
in Congo Boy directed by Rafiki Fariala

Best Actresses
Marina De Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro, Mariangel Villegas
in Siempre Soy Tu Animal Materno directed by Valentina Maurel

Caméra d'or

Caméra d'or Prize
Ben'imana
directed by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
Un Certain Regard

La Cinef

First Prize
Laser-Gato (Laser-Cat)
directed by Lucas Acher
NYU, États-Unis

Second Prize
Silent Voices
directed by Nadine Misong Jin
Columbia University, États-Unis

Joint Third Prize
Aldrig Nok (Never Enough)
directed by Julius Lagoutte Larsen
La Fémis, France

Growing Stones, Flying Papers
directed by Roozbeh Gezerseh & Soraya Shamsi
Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Allemagne

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After attending the 79th Festival de Cannes ourselves, you'll soon find our full reviews on movies such as Fatherland, Coward, La Bola Negra, and Histoires de la Nuit (The Birthday Party), together with live impressions and more from the event.