In Fjord, Romanian-Norwegian couple Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) and Mihai (Sebastian Stan) move with their five children to Lisbet’s remote Norwegian hometown, where their conservative Evangelical beliefs set them apart from the liberal community. When they come under suspicion over their parenting, Norway’s child-protection system enters their private lives, and as their beliefs face public scrutiny, a clash of values turns into an unsettling battle over who gets to decide what constitutes a good family.
Two-time Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu brings his characteristic fascination with social systems to this morally knotty drama. Shot in an icy palette, the film’s stark landscapes contrast with the heated tensions beneath the surface, even as its narrative maintains a patient ambiguity. Stan delivers a remarkably restrained performance across a trilingual role in Romanian, Norwegian, and English, and Reinsve is quiet and subtle yet emotionally charged as Lisbet. Refusing to tell us whom to side with, Fjord asks whether a society committed to tolerance can remain so when confronted with beliefs it finds deeply troubling.
Palme d’Or, Cannes 2026; Oscars submission: Romania
Cristian Mungiu
Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Henrikke Lund-Olsen
Romania/France/Norway/
Sweden/Denmark
2026
In Romanian, Norwegian, English, and Swedish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Cristian Mungiu, Pascal Caucheteux, Vincent Maraval, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Grégoire Sorlat, Sean Wheelan, Kristina Börjeson, Mimmi Spång, Adela Vrânceanu Celibidache, Katrin Pors, Mikkel Jersin, Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Haukka, Marco Perego, Tudor Reu
Screenwriter
Cristian Mungiu
Cinematography
Tudor Vladimir Panduru
Editor
Mircea Olteanu
Production Design
Marius Winje Brustad, Simona Paduretu
Original Music
Kaspar Kaae
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
The Haunting
Directed by Robert Wise in 1963, The Haunting is a classic exercise in the suggestive power of cinema, adapted from Shirley Jackson's 1959 best-seller, The Haunting of Hill House, a provocative blend of supernatural and psychological horror.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
Get Out
Guess who's coming to dinner? Daniel Kaluuya is the Black boyfriend justifiably anxious about meeting his white girlfriend's folks for the first time in Jordan Peele's satiric modern horror classic, one of a series curated by our VIFF+ Premium members.