The winners of this year’s Cannes Film Festival were announced Saturday evening 23 May 2026. Winners were selected by the Jury of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, chaired by South Korean director, screenwriter and producer Park Chan-wook. There were 22 films presented in the Official Competition in Cannes over the past couple of weeks.
The closing ceremony was hosted by French actress Eye Haïdara, who also presented the opening ceremony on 12 May. The top award – the Palme d’Or – was presented by Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.
Winners of the Official Selection at Festival de Cannes 2026:
PALME D’OR WINNER
Fjord, Cristian Mungiu
GRAND PRIX WINNER
Minotaur, Andrey Zvyagintsev
JURY PRIZE WINNER
The Dreamed Adventure (Das Geträumte Abenteuer) by Valeska Grisebach
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
(TIE) Javier Calva and Javier Ambrossi, The Black Ball; Pawel Pawlikowski, Fatherland
BEST SCREENPLAY AWARD
A Man of His Time by Emmanuel Marre (Emmanuel wrote the screenplay based on the letters written between her grandparents during the Second World War.)
BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto – All of a Sudden
BEST ACTOR AWARD
Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia – Coward
Awards were presented by Geena Davis (who features on this year’s poster), Xavier Dolan, Pierfrancesco Favino, Gael García Bernal, Nadine Labaki, and Zoe Saldaña.
The 22 films which were screened at the Palais in the competition for the Palme d’Or 2026 were:
- Amarga Navidad by Pedro Almodóvar,
- The Life of a Woman by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet,
- La Bola Negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi,
- Coward by Lukas Dhont,
- Histoires Parallèles by Asghar Farhadi,
- Paper Tiger by James Gray,
- Das Geträumte Abenteuer by Valeska Grisebach,
- Suddenly by Hamaguchi Ryusuke,
- L’Inconnue by Arthur Harari,
- Garance by Jeanne Herry,
- Sheep In The Box by Koreeda Hirokazu,
- Hope by Na Hong-jin,
- Nagi Notes (A Few Days in Nagi) by Fukada Koji,
- Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer,
- Notre Salut by Emmanuel Marre,
- Fjord by Cristian Mungiu,
- Stories of the Night by Léa Mysius,
- Moulin de László Nemes,
- Fatherland of Paweł Pawlikowski,
- The Man I Love by Ira Sachs,
- El Ser Querido by Rodrigo Sorogoyen,
- Minotaur by Andreï Zvyagintsev.
An honorary Palme d’Or is being awarded to Barbra Streisand, but as she is currently injured, she has been unable to attend Cannes. At her request, Isabelle Huppert is presenting the award and will say a few words in tribute to Streisand’s career.
Winners in other categories
Camera d’Or: Ben’Imana, Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo
Short Film Palme d’Or: For the Opponents, Federico Luis
HONORARY PALMES D’OR: Director Peter Jackson, Entertainer Barbra Streisand, Actor & now Director John Travolta
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: Everytime, Sandra Wollner
Jury Prize: Elephants in the Fog, Abinash Bikram Shah
Special Jury Prize: Iron Boy, Louis Clichy
Best Actress: Daniela Marín Navarro, Marina de Tavira and Mariangel Villegas – Forever Your Maternal Animal
Best Actor: Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset – Congo Boy
