Romanian director Cristian Mungiu's 'Fjord' wins top prize at Cannes

Left to right: Tilda Swinton poses with Renate Reinsve, Cristian Mungiu — winner of the Palme d'Or for Fjord — and Sebastian Stan, during the awards ceremony at the 79th Cannes international film festival, in southern France, on Saturday. Andreea Alexandru/AP

Andreea Alexandru/AP

Romanian director Cristian Mungiu took home the top prize at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for his culture-war drama Fjord.

Fjord, which centers on an immigrant family living in Norway, received the Palme D'Or for best film during the closing ceremony held at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes, France. It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve.

It's the second Palme D'Or for Mungiu, who received his first in 2007 for the film 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days.

In his acceptance speech, Mungui said that, in making the film, "We took the risk to speak aloud about things that many of us know and many of us share … but don't dare to say in public."

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And he urged artists to tackle current issues, however uncomfortable.

"Today, the society is split, it's divided, it's radicalized," he said. "This film is a pledge against any kind of fundamentalism. It's a pledge for the things we quote very, very often, like tolerance and inclusion and empathy. … These are lovely words, but we need to apply them more often."

Actress Barbra Streisand, who received the festival's third Honorary Palme D'Or, could not attend in person because of a knee injury but thanked everyone in a video message.