Russian filmmaker Zvyagintsev returns after ‘miracle’ recovery

Harry Archie May 19, 2026

Acclaimed Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev is set to make a grand return to the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, presenting his first film in nine years after a near-death experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oscar-nominated Zvyagintsev, director of acclaimed hits from “Leviathan” to “Loveless”, was left in a coma and unable to walk for a year after an extreme reaction to Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine.

After treatment in Europe, where he lives now in exile, the 62-year-old began work on “Minotaur” which is running in the main competition at Cannes.

Focused on the Russian elite in 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and with draft officers conscripting soldiers for the army, it is likely to be another trademark portrait of moral failure and vice in contemporary Russia.

Calling his recovery “a miracle”, Zvyagintsev told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of Cannes that the experience of a coma and a wheelchair had convinced him he needed “to live in the fast lane”.

“The pandemic really hit me hard. I was bedridden. I couldn’t move my hands. I couldn’t move my legs,” he said.

All of Zvyagintsev’s last films — “Elena”, “Leviathan” and “Loveless” — have won prizes at Cannes, with the portrait of corruption and state control under Russian leader Vladimir Putin in “Leviathan” causing problems at home but cementing his reputation abroad.

– Competition –

“Minotaur”, which premieres on Tuesday, is an adaptation of French director Claude Chabrol’s 1969 erotic thriller “The Unfaithful Wife” and will be a strong contender for the festival’s top film prize.

Like Zvyagintsev, many Russian directors and actors have fled the country since the Kremlin-ordered invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zvyagintsev now lives in Paris, while younger talents Kira Kovalenko and Kantemir Balagov, who presented his latest film “Butterfly Jam” in Cannes, moved to Los Angeles.

Others such as Kirill Serebrennikov, another Cannes favourite, fled to Berlin after being targeted by authorities before the invasion.

A total of 22 films are competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or for best film, which will be handed out on Saturday.

Critics’ favorites so far include historical drama “Fatherland” from Polish director Pawel Pawlikoski, “All of a Sudden” by Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi or blood-splattered action film “Hope” by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin.

Unlike previous editions, which have featured Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Top Gun premieres, no major Hollywood studio has chosen Cannes this year to launch a blockbuster.

Reasons cited for their absence include scheduling issues, cost-cutting, their growing preference for tightly controlled social media-led releases, and the risk of a mauling from the Cannes critics.

AFP