The film created in Russian, representing France at the Oscars, is the dissident director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s drama “Minotaur” (English: “Minotaur”). It has been selected in the Best International Feature Film category.
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The film was chosen by a professional jury led by film historian Charles Tesson. The French National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC) stated that the decision was made “after an independent process supervised by the Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences.”
At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, “Minotaur” won the Grand Prize. The film was produced by the French companies MK Productions and CG Cinéma, with contributions from German and Latvian filmmakers.
“In a competition that promises to be of very high level, this choice highlights the unique role of France in major international co-productions,” said CNC head Gaëtan Bruel.
The film is loosely based on Claude Chabrol’s 1969 film “The Unfaithful Wife” (“La femme infidèle”). It tells the story of a crumbling couple, with their relationship crisis unfolding against the backdrop of the mobilization announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, seven months after the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As his relationship with his wife, who becomes infatuated with a young photographer, grows more distant, Gleb, who leads the company, is forced to hand over some of his employees to the Russian army. This is his way of fulfilling the mobilization “quotas” set in the regions and avoiding mobilization in Moscow.
As in his other films, A. Zvyagintsev uses mythology. In the film, Gleb can be compared to King Aegeus of Athens, who was forced to send seven young men and seven young women to the Minotaur imprisoned in the labyrinth.
Gleb is also ready to make any compromises to preserve his position.
Can “Minotaur” win an Oscar?
According to film essayist and member of the editorial team of the magazine “Positif,” published by the Lumière Institute, Jean-Philippe Domecq, France’s choice is “subtle and thoughtful.”
Commenting on the film’s Oscar prospects to “Euronews,” he said that Zvyagintsev’s previous works, especially the film “Leviathan,” left him with a “deep and lasting impression.”
“Here, the return to ‘The Unfaithful Wife,’ its ambiguity further intensified by the context of mobilization, creates a huge gray area – this is the dominant color of the film,” Domecq described the film.
According to the film critic, the film is compelling because France’s involvement through producers is combined with aesthetics and plot that aim to maintain nuances.
“It is art that does not preach,” he said, adding that this approach gives the film its strength.
However, the film’s reception was not without criticism. At the Cannes Festival while accepting the 2026 Grand Prize, the director, currently living in France, directly addressed Vladimir Putin and urged him to “stop the slaughter,” but did not mention Ukraine or directly name Russia’s responsibility for starting the aggressive war in his speech.
“Today I would like to personally address one more person. Millions of people on both sides of the contact line dream of only one thing – that the killings finally stop. And the only person who can stop this bloodshed is the President of the Russian Federation. The whole world is waiting for this,” the director said in Russian.
His speech received mostly favorable reviews in the West but was criticized in Ukraine and among Russian war opponents living in exile.
“Minotaur” will be released in French cinemas on October 14. The film will be distributed by Les Films du Losange. International sales are handled by MK2 Films, and in the USA the film will be released by Mubi.
The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles.
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