FJORD

Acclaimed Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, already a Palme d'Or winner for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, returned this year to Cannes with his first international-cast feature — and won the Palme d'Or a second time. Fjord is a deeply thought-provoking family drama starring the superb acting duo, Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. The Gheorghius, a devout Romanian-Norwegian couple, have resettled with their 5 kids in Lisbet's Norwegian hometown, a village set in a remote fjord, where they grow close to their neighbors, the Halbergs, and their children bond despite their different upbringings. But when the Gheorghius' daughter Elia shows up at school with bruises, the tight-knit community begins to question whether the traditional, faith-based education the Gheorghiu children receive has crossed a line — and whether their parents are fit to raise them. Loosely inspired by the real case of a Romanian Christian family whose children were seized by Norwegian child-welfare authorities, Fjord is Romania's submission to the Oscars for Best International Feature.