Andrey Zvyagintsev

For the diver and Hero of the Russian Federation, see List of Heroes of the Russian Federation (Z).

Andrey Zvyagintsev
Андрей Звягинцев
Zvyagintsev in 2016
Born
Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev

(1964-02-06) 6 February 1964 (age 62)
Novosibirsk, RSFSR, Soviet Union
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active1992–present

Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev (Russian: Андре́й Петро́вич Звя́гинцев, pronounced [ˈzvʲæɡʲɪntsɨf]; born 6 February 1964) is a Russian filmmaker. Most known for his feature debut film The Return (2003), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

For Leviathan (2014) and Loveless (2017), he won Best Screenplay and the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival,[1][2] respectively. While both films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Russia.

Early life

Zvyagintsev was born in Novosibirsk, Siberia. At the age of 20 in 1984, he graduated from the theater school in Novosibirsk as an actor. Since 1986, he has lived in Moscow where he continued his studies at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts until 1990. From 1992 to 2000, he worked as an actor for film and theater. In 2000, he began to work for the TV station REN TV and directed three episodes of the television series The Black Room.

Career

His directing debut feature film, The Return (2003), about two teenager boys and their estranged father, had its world premiere at the main competition of the 60th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also selected as the Russian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 76th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

His second feature film, The Banishment (2007), had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Best Actor award.[3]

His 2011's Elena (2011), had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize.[4][5] It also won the Grand Prix at Film Fest Gent.

His fourth feature film, Leviathan (2014), had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival,[6] where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Best Screenplay award.[1] It was nominated for the Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Russia. It also won the award for Best Film at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In 2015, Zvyagintsev was a jury president of the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival.

His fifth feature film, Loveless (2017), had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Jury Prize.[2] It later won the Best Film at the 2017 London Film Festival, making him the second director to have won the award twice, having previously been honored for Leviathan.[7] In November 2017, the film won three awards at The Golden Unicorn Awards in London: Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress.[8] It was also nominated for the Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Russia. Zvyagintsev won the Achievement in Directing award at the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Loveless.[9] In March 2018, it won the César Award for Best Foreign Film, making Zvyagintsev the first Russian director to win it. In 2018, Zvyagintsev was a jury member of the Cannes Film Festival.

Upcoming projects

In 2023, it was announced that Zvyagintsev was working on his next project titled Jupiter, about an oligarch, and was planning on shooting in the spring of 2024 in Europe.[10] But the project was dropped shortly after, Zvyagintsev instead began working on Minotaur, which is expected to be released in 2026.[11]

Personal life

Andrei Zvyantsev's first wife was the actress Irina Grinyova; the two divorced after six years of marriage. His second wife is the film editor Anna Matveeva.[12][13] They have a son, Pyotr (born in 2009).[14][15]

Illness

In June 2021, Zvyagintsev received the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, but he developed a high fever and was taken to the hospital, where he was admitted to intensive care. During his hospital stay, he developed sepsis from an antibiotic-resistant infection contracted there.[16][17][18] He was put into an artificial coma in a German hospital, but afterward developed polyneuropathy that caused him to lose the ability to walk. For an extended period as well, he could neither sit up nor speak. In the hospital, his throat ligaments had been injured, and as late as May 2022, he was still undergoing treatment at a hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany.[16][17][18] However, by the end of 2023, now residing in France, Zvyagintsev was preparing to shoot a film entitled Jupiter in the coming year.[19]

Filmography

Feature films

Year English title Original title Notes
2003 The Return Возвращение
2007 The Banishment Изгнание
2011 Elena Елена
2014 Leviathan Левиафан
2017 Loveless Нелюбовь
TBA Minotaur Post-production

Other credits

  • The Black Room (TV series, 2000)
  • New York, I Love You ("Apocrypha" segment, 2009) – segment cut from theatrical release
  • Experiment 5IVE ("Mystery" segment, 2011)

Legacy and reputation

In Russian dark comedy series The Last Minister Alexander Gorchilin plays an alternate reality version of Zvyagintsev[20] who's kidnapped by a secret government agency and forced to make a sequel to Leviathan as part of a psyop to bolster Russia's reputation as world's bleakest and scariest country.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Awards 2014 : Competition". Cannes. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b "The Latest: Cannes Honors 'A Gentle Night,' 'Loveless'". US News. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Banishment". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  4. ^ Leffler, Rebecca (21 May 2011). "Un Certain Regard Announces Top Prizes (Cannes 2011)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Elena". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  6. ^ "2014 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Harvey Weinstein's Shadow Hangs Over London Film Festival Awards". What's Worth Seeing. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  8. ^ "The Golden Unicorn Awards Honour Film Makers For Second Year Running". Ikon London Magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Australia's Sweet Country Wins Best Feature Film at 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards". 23 November 2017.
  10. ^ Croll, Ben (3 December 2023). "Andrey Zvyagintsev Will Tackle Oligarch Drama 'Jupiter' With New Creative Vision: 'I'm Hoping to Start From Scratch'". Variety. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Arte France Cinéma is backing Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  12. ^ "На "Кинотавре" показали счастливых гастарбайтеров". MK. 4 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Любимые женщины режиссера Звягинцева". Komsomolskaya Pravda. 4 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Андрей Звягинцев: "Если я и шпион, то только русский"". Izvestia. 20 February 2015.
  15. ^ "Дурной сон госзаказа". Kommersant. 26 October 2016.
  16. ^ a b "Началось все с вакцины Спутник". DTF. 12 May 2022.
  17. ^ a b ""Ходить самостоятельно я не могу": Андрей Звягинцев рассказал, как борется за свою жизнь". Teleprogramma. 13 May 2022.
  18. ^ a b ""Аня, звони в скорую, я умираю": режиссер Андрей Звягинцев рассказал, как боролся за жизнь после вакцинации и болезни". NGS. 13 May 2022.
  19. ^ Andrey Zvyagintsev Will Tackle Oligarch Drama ‘Jupiter’ With New Creative Vision: ‘I’m Hoping to Start From Scratch’https://variety.com/2023/film/news/andrey-zvyagintsev-jupiter-rohmer-marrakech-russia-1235819636
  20. ^ "Лучшие российские сериалы первой половины 2022 года". Афиша (in Russian). Retrieved 11 March 2023.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Zvyagintsev