Romanian director Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or in Cannes. The big prize goes to the Russian director Andrej Zvyagintsev

“The current state of the world is not good. I am not proud of what we leave to our children… We have everything we need to understand where the world is going. Today’s societies are divided and radicalized. This film is also a commitment against any form of fundamentalism,” said Cristian Mungiu during his acceptance speech at Cannes on Saturday.

The award ceremony began at the local seaside resort after eight o’clock in the evening. The results were known in an hour and a half.

22 films competed in the main competition, including Autofiction (directed by Pedro Almodóvar), Minotaur (directed by Andrej Zvjagincev) and Soudain (directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi). They were among the favorites from the beginning and they confirmed these assumptions during the prize distribution on Saturday.

At the beginning of the ceremony, one legend confessed his admiration for the other. French actress Isabelle Huppertová (73) paid tribute to American actress Barbra Streisandová (84). “Perfection is not a defect with her, it is a code of ethics. It is also a certain form of courage,” Huppertová said to her colleague, as quoted by Le Monde newspaper, which broadcast the ceremony online.

She was supposed to arrive in Cannes in person, but in the end she didn’t make the trip. “On the recommendation of doctors, due to the fact that I am still recovering from a knee injury, I unfortunately cannot participate in the Cannes Film Festival this year. However, it is a great honor for me to accept the honorary Palme d’Or,” wrote Streisand in an apology to the organizers of the event a few days ago.

Huppertová “represented” her on stage.

As usual, the event became a big fashion and social show in addition to the film festival. It is also certain that at least some titles will reach Czech viewers. They will be shown at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, as is customary.