Russia’s Justice Ministry labels filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev a ‘foreign agent.’ At Cannes, where his new film took the Grand Prix, he had called on Putin to stop the war.

Russia’s Justice Ministry has added film director Andrei Zvyagintsev to its register of “foreign agents.”The ministry said Zvyagintsev worked with other “foreign agents” and “undesirable” organizations and spread “false information” about the policies of the Russian authorities.Others added to the “foreign agent” register were:Politician Pavel IvanovBlogger Erzhan TurgumbaiJournalist Mikhail ShevelevThe Anarkhist-35 projectThe ministry also removed two companies — Alaya Bukva LLC and the Institute of Neurocognitive Research LLC — from the register because they had been liquidated.Zvyagintsev is one of Russia’s most decorated filmmakers. His “Minotavr” (“The Minotaur”), his first film in nearly 10 years, premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in 2026 and won the Grand Prix. Accepting the award onstage, Zvyagintsev called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war. France has submitted “Minotavr” for the Academy Awards (the film was made jointly with the French companies CG Cinéma and MK Productions).At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.