Andrey Zvyagintsev
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Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev (, ; born 6 February 1964) is a Russian filmmaker. His film '' The Return'' (2003) won him a Golden Lion at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. Following ''The Return'', Zvyagintsev directed '' The Banishment'' (2007) and '' Elena'' (2011). His film '' Leviathan'' (2014) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in 2014 and won the Best Film award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. His most recent film '' Loveless'' won the Jury Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and was among the nominees for Best International Feature Film at the 90th Academy Awards. He also won the Achievement in Directing award for this film at the 2017 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.


Life and career

Zvyagintsev was born in
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
,
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
. 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 Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
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''. He directed his first feature film '' The Return'' (2003), which received several awards, including a Golden Lion at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. His second feature film '' The Banishment'' (2007) premiered at its year's Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Palme d'Or. '' Elena'' (2011), again premiered at Cannes, in the Un Certain Regard section, receiving the festival's Jury Prize. The same year it won the Grand Prix at Film Fest Gent. '' Leviathan'' (2014) was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section for its year at Cannes, where Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin won the award for Best Screenplay for the film. ''Leviathan'' won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. 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 most recent film, '' Loveless'' (2017), won the Jury Prize at Cannes in May 2017. 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''. In November 2017, the film won three awards at the Golden Unicorn Awards in London: Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress. ''Loveless'' was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Zvyagintsev won the Achievement in Directing award at the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards for ''Loveless''. In March 2018, ''Loveless'' won the
César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...
for Best Foreign Film, making Zvyagintsev the first Russian director to have won this award. In 2018, Zvyagintsev was a jury member of the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
. In 2023 it was announced that he is working on his next project titled ''Jupiter'', about an oligarch, and is planning on shooting in spring 2024 in Europe.


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. They have a son, Pyotr (born 2009).


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 Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
from an antibiotic-resistant infection contracted there. 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. However, by the end of 2023, now residing in France, Zvyagintsev was preparing to shoot a film entitled Jupiter in the coming year.


Filmography

* ''The Black Room'' (TV series, 2000) * '' The Return'' (2003) * '' The Banishment'' (2007) * '' New York, I Love You'' ("Apocrypha" segment, 2009) – segment cut from theatrical release * '' Experiment 5IVE'' ("Mystery" segment, 2011) * '' Elena'' (2011) * '' Leviathan'' (2014) * '' Loveless'' (2017)


In popular culture

In Russian dark comedy series '' The Last Minister'' Alexander Gorchilin plays an alternate reality version of Zvyagintsev 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.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zvyagintsev, Andrey 1964 births Living people People from Novosibirsk Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners César Award winners Directors of Golden Lion winners European Film Awards winners (people) Recipients of the Nika Award Russian male screenwriters Russian film directors Russian screenwriters Asia Pacific Screen Award winners