A fractured marriage reflects the machinery of war.
Paris, France.
France has selected Minotaure, a Russian-language drama directed by exiled filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Academy Awards. The decision, announced by France’s National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image, follows the film’s Grand Prix victory at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Produced by French companies with German and Latvian participation, the feature explores the disintegration of a marriage against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its selection places a Russian director’s examination of contemporary Russian society within France’s international cinematic representation.
The film was chosen by an independent professional committee chaired by cinema historian Charles Tesson. French production companies CG Cinéma and MK Productions developed the project with support from France’s international film funding program. CNC President Gaëtan Bruel presented the selection as an example of the country’s role in international coproductions. The decision also demonstrates how a film’s national representation at the Oscars can reflect its production structure rather than the director’s nationality or the language spoken on screen.
Loosely adapted from Claude Chabrol’s 1969 film The Unfaithful Wife, Minotaure follows Gleb, a businessman whose marriage deteriorates as his wife becomes involved with a younger photographer. His private crisis unfolds during the military mobilization ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022. Gleb faces pressure to surrender employees to the Russian army to satisfy regional recruitment quotas, confronting him with decisions that connect personal survival to the consequences of war. The story examines how institutional demands can penetrate intimate relationships and influence individual choices.
Zvyagintsev draws on Greek mythology to develop this conflict. The film’s title recalls the Minotaur, the monstrous figure imprisoned in a labyrinth to which Athens was compelled to send young people as sacrifices. Within the narrative, Gleb’s willingness to compromise to preserve his position establishes a parallel between ancient sacrifice and contemporary moral responsibility. The mythological framework transforms a domestic drama into an examination of authority, complicity and the costs of self-preservation.
The film has also generated controversy beyond its artistic reception. Accepting the Grand Prix at Cannes, Zvyagintsev appealed directly to Putin to end the bloodshed, identifying the Russian president as the person capable of stopping it. Although his intervention received positive responses in parts of the West, critics in Ukraine and among Russian antiwar exiles objected to his failure to explicitly name Ukraine or acknowledge Russia’s responsibility in his remarks. The differing reactions illustrate the difficulty of separating artistic expression from political expectations during an ongoing war.
Minotaure is scheduled for release in French cinemas on October 14, with Les Films du Losange handling domestic distribution and MK2 Films managing international sales. Mubi will distribute the feature in the United States. Its selection represents the beginning of France’s Academy Awards campaign, not an official Oscar nomination. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles.
France’s choice underscores the increasingly transnational character of contemporary cinema. A Russian-language film, developed through European production partnerships and rooted in a conflict affecting the continent, will represent French filmmaking internationally. Its significance extends beyond the awards process, opening another space for examining how personal decisions become entangled with the structures and consequences of war.
La narrativa también es poder. / Narrative is power too.