Russia labels filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev a 'foreign agent'

Zvyagintsev's film 'Minotaur', which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival this year, depicts a Russian businessman deciding which employees should be mobilized to fight in Ukraine. In his acceptance speech, Zvyagintsev remarked that millions on both sides of the front line dream of the massacres stopping and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only person capable of ending the war. Critics have described 'Minotaur' as one of Zvyagintsev's most openly critical commentaries on Russia's political and moral condition.

The director has been living outside Russia since the COVID pandemic and is also known for films such as 'The Return', 'The Banishment', and 'Leviathan'. Individuals designated as foreign agents face onerous bureaucratic requirements and income restrictions, and must preface all published content, including social media posts, with a capital letter warning that the material was produced by a foreign agent. Other cultural figures, including writer Boris Akunin and rock musician Boris Grebenshchikov, have also received this designation.