CANNES: "Fjord", a thought-provoking drama about domestic violence and left-wing prejudices by Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu, won the best film prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday at a star-packed closing ceremony.

In his second Palme d'Or-winning film, Mungiu explored the contradictions of Scandinavia's supposed tolerance in a drama featuring Norwegian star Renate Reinsve ("Sentimental Value") and Sebastian Stan ("The Apprentice").

It follows a devoutly Christian Norwegian-Romanian couple and their five children who move to a remote village.

"This is a message about tolerance, inclusion and empathy. These are wonderful values that we all cherish, but we need to put them into practice more often," Mungiu told the audience.

The movie is based on true events and is notable for how it questions the supposedly progressive values of Norwegian society, as well as religious bias in the country's child welfare system.

Russian drama "Minotaur" by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which depicts a callous businessman caught up in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, won the Grand Prix second prize.

Zvyagintsev's films offer bleak portraits of modern Russia under Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.

"Put an end to the carnage, the whole world is waiting for it," Zvyagintsev, who now lives in exile in France, told the audience in a message addressed to Putin.

The director nearly died during the Covid 19 pandemic, spending more than a month in a coma during treatment in Europe.

Double winners
Among the other prizes, Belgium's Virginie Efira and Japanese actor Tao Okamoto shared the best female performance award for their roles in nursing home drama "All of a Sudden" by Japan's Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Belgian duo Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne from gay World War I drama "Coward" also shared the male best actor award for their roles in the Lukas Dhont-directed movie.

Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo won the Camera d'Or for best first film for her genocide drama "Ben'Imana" which she dedicated to "the women of my country".

Other critics' favorites in Cannes included arty black-and-white historical drama "Fatherland" and "La Bola Negra", a big-budget Spanish drama about multiple gay lives.

They both took home prizes for best director.

Talking points
The Cannes Film Festival is the world's biggest, providing a crucial platform for independent cinema, as well as a showcase for fashion and celebrities to rival the Academy Awards or the Met Gala.

The 79th edition of the festival was packed with its usual stable of A-listers, from John Travolta to Cate Blanchett and Vin Diesel, but Hollywood was under-represented.

No major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster at Cannes this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.

Other big talking points included the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, as well as the continued under-representation of women in the industry.
Only five of the 22 films in the main competition this year were directed by women.

Geena Davis, star of "Thelma & Louise" which features on the Cannes Festival poster this year, reflected on how the 1991 movie was meant to be a breakthrough for women as she presented a prize.

"All these years later, we have to acknowledge that the change is happening slowly," she said.

Other prizes in Cannes include best documentary for "Rehearsals for a Revolution", by actress and director Pegah Ahangarani.

"Elephants in the Fog" – Nepal's first-ever film in competition at Cannes – won the jury prize of the official Certain Regard section Friday for its story about the country's traditional transgender community.

And the best actor prize in the Certain Regard section went to 18-year-old Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset, who was discovered in a street audition in the Central African capital Bangui for the crowd-pleasing "Congo Boy", a refugee rap drama.

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'Fjord' by Romania's Cristian Mungiu wins Cannes best film prize