Italian producer Marco Perego achieved a historic double victory at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or for Fjord and the Grand Prix for Minotaur.
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival closed with a major achievement for the Italian producer, born in Salò in 1979. Perego received two of the festival’s most prestigious awards: the Palme d’Or for Fjord by Cristian Mungiu and the Grand Prix for Minotaur by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev.
The result marks an unprecedented milestone in the history of the French festival. Never before had a producer won both the Palme d’Or and the Grand Prix in the same edition. Perego arrived on the Croisette with four selected titles, including three films in the Official Competition and one presented at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes.
An International Career Between Cinema and Visual Arts
Now based in Los Angeles with his wife, Oscar-winning actress Zoe Saldaña, Marco Perego has built an international career spanning cinema, visual arts, and independent production. Through Life Entertainment Art Film (LEAF), the production company founded together with Saldaña, Perego has supported auteur-driven projects from different cultural backgrounds and international filmmaking environments.
The two award-winning films presented at Cannes reflect this global production approach. Fjord, starring Renate Reinsveand Sebastian Stan, won the Palme d’Or with a story combining intimate storytelling and social tension. Meanwhile, Minotaur marked the return of Andrey Zvyagintsev to the international festival circuit and earned the Grand Prix from the Cannes jury.
Following the awards ceremony, Perego commented on the achievement on social media, emphasizing the importance of collaboration behind the success and thanking the Cannes Film Festival, general delegate Thierry Frémaux, and president Iris Knobloch. The historic double victory at Cannes 2026 stands as one of the most significant achievements ever reached by an Italian producer at the festival and highlights the growing importance of independent international productions within the contemporary film industry.
Photo Credits: Jovan Vasiljević su Unsplash
