Cannes Palme d'Or 'Fjord'... Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' Fails to Win

Photo = News1 [Financial News] *Fjords*, directed by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the 79th Cannes International Film Festival.
*Fjords* was announced as the winner of the Palme d'Or at the closing ceremony held at the Grand Lumière Theatre in Cannes, France, on the 23rd (local time). In his acceptance speech, Director Cristian Mungiu emphasized that films must address important social issues, stating that the film opposes extremism and conveys a message of tolerance, inclusion, and empathy.
*Fjords* tells the story of a Romanian-Norwegian couple who move to a remote village and experience conflict with their neighbors over child-rearing methods and religious issues. Director Cristian Mungiu previously won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 for *Four Months, Two Weeks and Two Days*, and received the Best Screenplay award for *The Girls of God* in 2012 and the Best Director award for *The Graduate* in 2016.
Director Na Hong-jin's *Hope*, which marked the first Korean entry into the competition section in four years, did not make the list of winners. Through the distributor Plus M Entertainment, Director Na stated that meeting Korean audiences is currently the most important thing, and expressed his intention to maximize the quality of the film before its release.
The Grand Prix went to Director Andrey Zvyagintsev's *Minotaur*. Set in Russia in 2022, the film depicts the turmoil a CEO experiences at both his company and home. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev previously won the Best Screenplay award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for 'Leviathan' and the Jury Prize in 2017 for 'Loveless'.
The Best Director award was jointly presented to Javier Ambrosi and Javier Calvo for 'La Bola Negra' and Pawel Pawlikowski for 'Fatherland'. 'La Bola Negra' tells the story of three men based on the unfinished play by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, while 'Fatherland' covers the journey of Nobel Literature Prize winner Thomas Mann and his daughter, set in 1940s Germany.
The Jury Prize went to German director Valeska Grisbach for 'The Dreamed Adventure', and the Best Screenplay award went to Emmanuel Marais for 'Notre Salu'. 'The Dreamed Adventure' depicts the process of a female archaeologist finding a link to crime in a Bulgarian border city, while 'Notre Salut' portrays the life of a civil servant under the Vichy French regime in the 1940s.
The Best Actor award went to Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for 'Coward,' while the Best Actress award was shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for 'All of a Sudden. ' 'Coward' tells the story of a theatrical performance by soldiers who met on the front lines of World War I, and 'All of a Sudden' is the new film by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
The Honorary Palme d'Or was awarded to singer and actress Barbra Streisand. Barbra Streisand spoke about the power and passion of cinema through a video message.
Director Park Chan-wook led the judging of the competition section at this year's Cannes Film Festival as the jury president, and nine jurors, including Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloé Zhao, and Laura Wander, reviewed the 22 films selected for the competition.
Meanwhile, the Palme d'Or for Short Films went to Federico Ruiz's 'Para los Contrincantes', and the Golden Camera Award went to Marie-Clémentine Dusavezzambo's 'Benimana'.
mj@fnnews.com Park Mun-su Reporter