Andreï Zviaguintsev, the director of the film Minotaure, has been labeled an "agent of a foreign country" by the Russian Ministry of Justice. This designation follows the announcement that Minotaure will represent France in the 2027 Academy Awards (Oscars). The label, which is part of Russia’s legal framework for foreign agents, imposes administrative obligations on Zviaguintsev, including the requirement to add the "foreign agent" label to his social media profiles and films. It also restricts his income and could result in fines or imprisonment if he fails to comply with the regulations. Zviaguintsev has been living in exile in France since 2022, after publicly criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zviaguintsev has been a vocal critic of the war, and his comments have drawn sharp responses from Russian officials. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "end this massacre" and "bloodshed," which prompted a strong reaction from the Kremlin. A spokesperson for the Russian government accused Zviaguintsev of not condemning the "bloody massacre" in the Donbass region since 2014, a period that many consider to have been a catalyst for Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zviaguintsev, however, has consistently called for an end to the conflict, stating that the only "just and rational" response from Russian authorities is to stop the "ruthless and senseless war." In a recent statement, Zviaguintsev warned that continuing the war would lead to "nothing but sorrow and tears; nothing but disappointment and a depressive apathy; nothing but the limbs of your fellow citizens torn away in the name of an illusory goal; nothing but the massacre of young people whose country needs to build life and the future." His films have long explored the complexities of modern Russian society, and Minotaure, his latest work, continues this tradition. The film, released on October 14, follows the moral decline of a wealthy provincial business executive in contemporary Russia who discovers his wife’s infidelity and is forced to choose fourteen employees to send to the Ukrainian front. Shot in Latvia, Minotaure is a reimagining of the 1969 psychological thriller La Femme infidèle by Claude Chabrol. The film was selected to represent France at the Oscars in March 2027, chosen over other contenders such as La Bataille de Gaulle - L'Âge de fer, Le Corset, La Gradiva, and L'Inconnue. Produced by Charles Gillibert and Nathanaël Karmitz, with support from the Aide aux cinémas du monde from the French National Center for Cinema and the Image (CNC), the film explores the disintegration of Russian society, where political and economic leaders send the least productive citizens to war.