The right fjord was in Norangsfjorden: Here's where Fjord was filmed
Fjord
Director and writer Cristian Mungiu travelled around the west coast of Norway looking for the right fjord. He found it in Norangsfjorden – and what he built there won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Fjord was shot across a string of villages on the west coast of Norway, filming over 36 shooting days from March to May 2025 to capture the seasonal changes.
The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, where it won the Palme d'Or, the François Chalais Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Prix de la Citoyenneté. It opens in US cinemas on October 9, 2026.
The film follows the Gheorghius – a devout Romanian-Norwegian couple who resettle in a village set in a distant fjord where they become close to their neighbours, the Halbergs. Their children bond despite their different education. When adolescent Elia Gheorghiu shows up at school with bruises on her body, the community asks itself if the traditional education that the Gheorghiu children receive from their parents might have anything to do with it.
Sebastian Stan plays Mihai, the Romanian father. Renate Reinsve plays Lisbeth, his Norwegian wife. The supporting cast includes Lisa Carlehed, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Thorbjørn Harr, Christian Rubeck and Erik Hivju.
Much of the production was based in Strenes – a small village with a harbour in Norangsfjorden, located near Øye in the Møre og Romsdal region of western Norway. The surrounding villages and the fjord system gave the production its primary shooting environment: a remote coastal community enclosed by steep mountain walls, accessible mainly by water, where the seasonal changes from winter to spring were captured across 36 days of filming.
Producer Tudor Reu described the logistics plainly in an interview with Screen Daily: "The transport involved ferries for the minibuses and equipment trucks. When the roads were closed, everybody used private boats." The weather conditions changed dramatically throughout the shoot, with snow and landslides becoming genuine occupational hazards. The remoteness that made the location visually extraordinary also made every day of filming a logistical challenge.
The cast and crew stayed in private houses and hotels in the area throughout the shoot. "The cast stayed in a fabulous place, Hotel Union Øye, which the Norwegian production managed to open earlier especially for us," recalls Reu.
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Mungiu took a scouting trip early in development, travelling around the west coast of Norway in search of what Reu called "the right fjord". Local knowledge helped – Eye Eye Pictures had already shot the 2024 thriller Armand in Ålesund and knew the Møre og Romsdal region well.
The Norangsfjorden – one of the less touristed branches of the western fjord system, its narrow inlet and surrounding mountains giving it a more enclosed and remote character than the more famous Geirangerfjord nearby – is precisely the kind of location the story required. A community you cannot leave easily. A landscape that watches everything.
Fjord opens in US cinemas on October 9, 2026. And later around Europe.
SOURCE
Cineuropa // Screen Daily/// Festival de Cannes // Wikipedia // sceen-it.com
CREDITS
© Mobra Films, Eye Eye Pictures
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