Six EU-supported films won awards at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, including the Palme d'Or for Cristian Mungiu’s "Fjörd."
The 79th edition of the festival closed on Saturday 23 May, the European Commission noted in a release on Tuesday.
"Fjörd" received EU support for its development and was awarded the Palme d'Or.
Two other films backed by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme won major prizes in the Official Competition — Valeska Grisebach’s "Das Geträumte Abenteuer" (“The Dreamed Adventure”) took the Jury Prize after receiving co-development support, while Emmanuel Marre’s "Notre Salut" (“A Man of His Time”) won Best Screenplay.
Lukas Dhont’s "Coward," supported through an EU film distribution scheme, won Best Actor for its two lead performers, Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne.
Awards beyond the main competition
In the Un Certain Regard section, "Elephants in the Fog" by Abinash Bikram Shah won the Jury Prize and was backed through MEDIA 360°, a support strand within the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, the Commission said.
Valentina Maurel’s "Siempre soy tu animal materno" (“Forever Your Maternal Animal”) won Best Actresses for its three lead performers.
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, congratulated the award-winning films and said the EU would continue supporting creative industries through the current Creative Europe MEDIA programme and the future AgoraEU programme.
A total of 19 EU-funded films were nominated at Cannes this year, with seven competing for the Palme d'Or, and the Creative Europe MEDIA programme supported the works and their distribution with €1.17 million.
