Palme d'Or winner 'Fjord' to open European Film Festival Malaysia

Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner Fjord will open the 26th European Film Festival Malaysia on Nov. 26, according to Variety. The opening screening takes place at the TGV Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur. The Palme d'Or is the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Fjord is Mungiu's second.

The film stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as members of a devout Romanian family who move to Norway. It is one of 20 films in the festival, and each comes from a different country. The programme includes eight films that premiered at Cannes and three from last year's competition at the Venice Film Festival in Italy.

The festival runs through Dec. 13 under the theme "Atlas." Pierre Monnard's Swiss biopic, Hello Betty, a film based on the life of a real person, will close it. Seventeen EU member states take part, along with Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The event is run by the Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia together with Blackflag, a local partner. This edition begins a four-year partnership between the two that runs through 2029. Malaysia's national film agency, FINAS, along with the cinema chain TGV Cinemas and the broadcaster Astro, are official partners. Yu Ern Chia is the festival's director.

The most notable change this year is for viewers who cannot get to a cinema. For the first time, some festival films will reach home audiences through Astro, the Malaysian media group. From January 2027, Astro will release a selection of the 20 titles on Astro First, according to Variety. The films chosen for that release have not been named yet.

For Malaysian audiences, the change means the festival's programme could reach people outside the big cities. It also means a festival screening can lead to a longer run on television, something that used to depend on separate distribution deals. Those details are still to come, so the list of titles is the next thing to watch.