Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu‘s latest film Fjord, starring Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), had its world premiere in Cannes on Monday night and received a 12-minute ovation.
The runners-up ovation-wise at this point in the festival are James Gray’s Paper Tiger, which last night got a 10-minute salute, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of aSudden, which on Friday had them clapping for 11 minutes.
While not anywhere near the longest ever ovation at Cannes, all of these are strong showings. For example, Sean Baker’s Anora, which went on to win the festival’s Palme d’Or and later the Best Picture Oscar, got a 10-minute ovation in 2024.
Fjord marks Mungiu’s English-language debut. In it, the co-stars play a mixed Romanian and Norwegian couple who move to the fjord village where the wife was born with their children. Their planned new life does not go to plan when they come up against a couple with a very different outlook on life.
The film is Mungiu’s first film in three years after the 2022 drama R.M.N. The director has competed in Cannes four times, winning the Palme d’Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007, Best Screenplay for Beyond The Hills in 2012, and Best Director for Graduation in 2016.
Neon has already snapped up U.S., Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand rights to the film.