Andrey Zvyagintsev says his return to Cannes after nine years is an incomparable event for him

Exiled Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev has spoken of his joy at returning to the Cannes Film Festival with Palme d'Or contender Minotaur, nearly a decade after his last appearance on the Croisette.

A long-awaited return

"It's one of the greatest things that's happened to me over these last nine years. Coming back after such a lengthy absence to the Cannes Film Festival once again is an absolutely incomparable event and I am sure you understand that," Zvyagintsev told the press conference for the film on Wednesday.

The director was last at Cannes in 2017 with his penultimate film Loveless, which won the Jury Prize and went on to receive an Academy Award nomination.

In the years that followed, Zvyagintsev endured considerable hardship — nearly dying from Covid-19 during the pandemic before finding himself in exile in France after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

About Minotaur

Set in a Russian provincial city in 2022, Minotaur is a twist-laden drama exploring themes of privilege, betrayal, jealousy, primordial survival instinct, and moral compromise against the backdrop of the early days of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Dmitriy Mazurov plays Gleb, a successful company director whose apparently perfect life begins to fall apart — not necessarily as a direct result of the conflict, but driven by his growing suspicion that his wife, played by Iris Lebedeva, is having an affair.

A director who still knows his country

Despite having been absent from Russia for more than six years, Zvyagintsev was unequivocal about his qualification to tell a story set there.

"I may have left Russia but I previously spent 60 years there. I know how the people think, how they react, how they go about things. I know a lot about corruption too, which is highly developed in the country," he said.

"I'm familiar with all the aspects… I perhaps lost a link when I left Russia six years ago, but I know what I'm talking about."