The friction between conservative immigrant values and progressive Western institutions is explored in Director Cristian Mungiu’s family drama from Romania, Fjord.

Based on a true-life case, Mungiu’s film tells the story of an immigrant conservative Romanian family living with their five children in a remote Norwegian fishing community. After their daughter appears at school with bruises and they are suspected of abusing their children, their lives are thrown into chaos as they face the scrutiny of the local judicial system and Norway’s child welfare service.

Mungiu’s film had its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival where it won the François Chalais Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the Prix de la Citoyenneté and the Palme d’Or.

On October 5, after the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee Global Cinema Series screening in New York, Mungiu discussed the making of the film during a Q&A moderated by Director Ira Sachs (The Man I Love).

Asked if the process gets easier as he makes more films, the award-winning Director responded, “When you start nobody compares you to anything else. You can just surprise people in a pleasant way or just be a failure, but nobody will notice. But, if you have the luck and misfortune of being successful from the beginning, there’s some pressure following... It’s not so difficult to make a film where you surprise people once, but to make yourself become an author with a style, a vision about cinema and universal themes, is a bit more complicated. I needed three, four, five years before advancing with every other film, with a lot of doubts every time. I never know once I finish a film if I will be able to make another one. I don’t want to say that I’m always telling important things, but I need to believe that this is relevant. I need to convince myself at least — because you’re investing so much energy into this — from all the possible themes in the world, I’m trying to choose the one which is the closest to me but is relevant for others as well.”

Mungiu’s other directorial works include the feature films Graduation, Beyond the Hills, Tales from the Golden Age, Occident, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and the Palme d’Or nominated R.M.N.