Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev has described how the war in Ukraine changed the direction of Minotaur, his latest drama about a businessman facing pressure to supply recruits for the military.
The film follows Gleb, who runs a transport business in Russia. As his family life begins to unravel, a local official demands that he identify employees to send to the war. The story asks what a person will do to protect his own life and livelihood when others may bear the cost.
Minotaur won the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. France’s national film body has also confirmed that the film was selected to represent the country in the race for the 2027 Academy Award for best international feature film. It has not been nominated for an Oscar; nominations will be decided later.
A story changed by the invasion
Zvyagintsev told Reuters that he had originally planned a film inspired by French director Claude Chabrol’s La Femme Infidèle, which centres on a suspected affair. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the project became a story in which a private crisis unfolds alongside the demands of war.
Unable to film in Russia, Zvyagintsev used a town in Latvia as the setting. He now lives in France, having left Russia in 2021. Russian authorities designated him a “foreign agent” in September, a label he declined to discuss in the Reuters interview.
The director said he does not expect a film to change public opinion about the war quickly. His focus is on the human choices made within it: who is asked to fight, who can avoid that demand, and who makes those decisions.
What comes next for the film
Minotaur is screening at the New York Film Festival on 5 October, where Zvyagintsev is scheduled to take part in a discussion. Its French cinema release is listed for 14 October. France’s Oscar submission gives the film a place in the selection process, but a shortlist place or nomination is not guaranteed.
