‘Fjord’ by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu wins Cannes top film prize

This marks the second time that Romanian director Cristian Mungiu has won the prestigious Palme d’Or prize.Fjord, a thought-provoking drama about a Christian family in Norway from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, has won the best film prize at the Cannes Film Festival.Mungiu won his second Palme d’Or at a star-packed closing ceremony at the festival on Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Cannes becomes the latest famous destination to crack down on mass tourismlist 2 of 3Arson attack probed as Cannes and parts of southern France suffer power cutlist 3 of 3Iranian film, It was Just an Accident, wins Palme d’Or at Cannes festivalend of listThe ⁠drama starring Sebastian Stan and Renate ⁠Reinsve is centred around ⁠the clash ⁠of values that ensues when a religious family ‌relocates from Romania to a Norwegian ‌village.It tells the story of evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have their children taken from them by child services for spanking them. Mungiu has called it a tale of “left-wing fundamentalism.”The movie is based on true events and is notable for how it questions the supposedly progressive values of the Norwegians depicted in the film, as well as the child welfare system.“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.Mungiu becomes just the 10th filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or twice. His, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a Romanian abortion drama, won the award in 2007.Russian war drama Minotaur, by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which depicts a callous businessman caught up in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, won the Grand Prix second prize.“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 Russian leader Vladimir Putin.