Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” Selected as France’s Official Oscar Entry
Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev (CG Cinema and mk2 Productions/MUBI)
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur was recently named as France’s official entry for the Best International Feature category at the 99th Academy Awards.
Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2026 Festival de Cannes, Minotaur is a France-Latvia-Germany co-production, set in Russia, 2022. Adapted from Claude Chabrol’s 1969 French film The Unfaithful Wife, the story follows corporate executive Gleb as he finds himself under siege on all fronts: haunted by suspicions that his wife is unfaithful and facing a demand to draft a quota of employees for war. Though desperate to keep his hands clean, his struggle to reassert control accelerates toward violence.
One of Russia’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers, Andrey Zvyagintsev is known for films including The Return (2003), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival; Leviathan (2014), which received the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, won the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award; and Loveless (2017), winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Minotaur will have its New York premiere as part of the Main Slate of the 64th New York Film Festival, running from September 25 to October 12. The film, distributed by MUBI, will be in theaters nationwide on November 20.