The 79th Festival de Cannes winners' list is released
The organisers of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the world’s largest film festival held annually in the southern French city of Cannes, have announced this year’s winners, with Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord winning the prestigious Palme d’Or, while Nepalese film Elephants in the Fog directed by Abinash Bikram Shah emerged as a major highlight by securing the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section dedicated to distinctive and emerging cinematic voices from around the world.
In a press statement, Cannes Film Festival organisers say that Elephants in the Fog was among the most notable films in the Un Certain Regard category, which highlights original storytelling and innovative filmmaking styles from around the world. The film’s atmospheric narrative and socially grounded themes drew strong attention during the festival, positioning it as one of the breakout titles of this year’s edition.
According to the statement, Un Certain Regard Prize was awarded to Everytime directed by Sandra Wollner, while Iron Boy by Louis Clichy received the Special Jury Prize. Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset won Best Actor for Congo Boy directed by Rafiki Fariala, while Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro and Mariangel Villegas jointly won Best Actress for Siempre Soy Tu Animal Materno directed by Valentina Maurel.
In the main Competition section, Minotaur directed by Andreï Zviaguintsev received the Grand Prix. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi won the Best Director Prize for La Bola Negra, shared with Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland. Emmanuel Marre won Best Screenplay for A Man of His Time.
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The statement says that Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto jointly received the Best Actress award for All of a Sudden directed by Hamaguchi Ryusuke, while Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne shared the Best Actor award for Coward directed by Lukas Dhont.
In the Short Film Competition, Para Los Contrincantes (For the Opponents) by Federico Luis won the Short Film Palme d’Or.
According to the organisers, the Caméra d’Or for best first feature film was awarded to Ben’Imana directed by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo in the Un Certain Regard section.
The statement adds that in La Cinef, Cannes section dedicated to film school productions, Laser-Gato (Laser-Cat) directed by Lucas Acher from New York University won the First Prize, while Silent Voices by Nadine Misong Jin from Columbia University received the Second Prize. Joint Third Prize winners included Aldrig Nok (Never Enough) by Julius Lagoutte Larsen and Growing Stones, Flying Papers by Roozbeh Gezerseh and Soraya Shamsi.
The festival also announced the CST Award for Best Artist-Technician for Nicolas Rumpl, head film editor of Notre Salut directed by Emmanuel Marre, while Esther Mysius received the CST Award for Best Young Female Film Technician for her production design work in The Birthday Party directed by Léa Mysius.
Held annually in the French Riviera city of Cannes, the Cannes Film Festival remains one of the world’s most influential cinema platforms, showcasing auteur-driven filmmaking and shaping global film conversations through its competition and parallel sections.