A year in hospital and 90% lung damage: how Andrey Zvyagintsev survived Covid and came back to Cannes

"His films have been hailed as damning allegories of the Russian population's apathy in the face of state oppression. Yet when director Andrey Zvyagintsev learned of his country's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he too was paralysed, and literally so. A severe infection with Covid-19 had left the film-maker stranded at a clinic in Hanover, Germany, struggling to breathe with 90% lung damage and unable to move or feel his limbs for several months."

"It was in this state that I learned of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he said in a rare recent interview. It was a shock; I felt immense pain and deep despair. In all, he spent 11 months in assorted hospitals. Yet Zvyagintsev recovered. He relearned to walk and hold a spoon, and managed to channel his anguish back into film-making."

"Entitled Minotaur, the new film is an adaptation of Claude Chabrol's 1969 erotic thriller The Unfaithful Wife, transplanted to a medium-sized provincial town. It follows a business executive (Dmitriy Mazurov) who is on the verge of laying off his employees when he discovers that his wife Galina (Iris Lebedeva) is having an affair."

"At Cannes, Zvyagintsev has previously won the best screenplay and jury prizes but never the top award, and this year he will be competing for the Palme d'Or against auteur heavyweights such as Pedro Almodovar, Laszlo Nemes and Asghar Farhadi. But his nine-year absence from the world of cinema means the 62-year-old's return to the red carpet will be a major event."

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s films have been seen as harsh allegories of Russian public apathy under state oppression. In February 2022, he learned of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while severely ill with COVID-19 in a clinic in Hanover, Germany. He suffered 90% lung damage and was unable to move or feel his limbs for months, spending 11 months in hospitals. After recovery, he relearned basic movements and used his anguish to make a new film. Minotaur premieres at Cannes in France, where he has chosen exile. The film adapts Claude Chabrol’s The Unfaithful Wife, set in a provincial town, following a business executive who discovers his wife’s affair as he prepares layoffs.

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