French cinema honored at the 79th Cannes Film Festival

26 5月 2026

French cinema was generously awarded on May 23 at the closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, notably with the Palme d'or for Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, co-produced by France, as well as all the major awards, including the Grand Prix for Andreï Zvyaguintsev's Minotaur, the Best Screenplay Award presented to Emmanuel Marre for A Man of His Time, and the Best Actress Award (Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for All of a Sudden) and Best Actor Award (Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Coward). Numerous other French productions and co-productions also received awards.

The diversity of the award-winning films, as well as the significant contribution of French productions to this list, once again demonstrate the vitality and creativity of French cinema, which is capable of embracing and celebrating all cultural differences.

Unifrance warmly congratulates Cristian Mungiu, his French producer Pascal Caucheteux (Why Not Productions), and international sales agents Goodfellas for the Palme d'or awarded to the film Fjord, a Romania/France/Norway/Denmark/Sweden co-production. This award secures the 58-year-old Romanian filmmaker’s place among the world’s greatest filmmakers, following his first Palme d’Or in 2007 for his film 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.

Unifrance is also delighted with the double wins for Best Actor and Best Actress. The former were awarded to Japanese actress Tao Okamoto and Virginie Efira for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden, a film majority produced by the French company Cinéfrance Studios, with sales handled by Cinefrance International; the latter went to Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, young actors starring in Lukas Dhont's Coward, co-produced for France by Lumen.

Congratulations also on the Grand Prix, awarded to Russian filmmaker Andreï Zvyaguintsev, whose film Minotaur was co-produced in France by CG Cinéma and MK Productions, and is sold internationally by mk2 films, as well as on the Best Screenplay Award presented to Emmanuel Marre for his second feature A Man of His Time, a Kidam production, sold internationally by Charades.

French cinema was also honored with the Jury Prize awarded to The Dreamed Adventure by Valeska Grisebach (co-produced by Kazak Productions) as well as two joint Best Director awards: Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski, a Chapter 2 co-production, and La bola negra, co-produced by Le Pacte (with Goodfellas handling international sales).

In conclusion, Unifrance would like to extend its congratulations and thanks to all the artists and professionals who have contributed to the success of the many French films presented this year at the festival, across all sections of the Official Selection (including Un Certain Regard, Cannes Classics, Cannes Première, Special Screenings, and Midnight Screenings) and the sidebar strands (Critics' Week, Directors' Fortnight, and ACID - Cannes): writers, directors, actors, as well as producers, distributors, and international sales agents. Through their talent and dedication, they enable French cinema to continue its singular and globally recognized journey. Each work, through its unique perspective on our era and our societies, nourishes the artistic and cultural dialogue that unites us with other film traditions, while promoting universal values of freedom, openness, and fraternity.