France will submit Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The selection hands the Cannes Grand Prix winner the mandate to represent France on the Oscar stage and keeps the film’s festival momentum alive ahead of a U.S. release later this year.
The French selection committee chose Minotaur from a shortlist that included Antonin Baudry’s De Gaulle: Tilting Iron, Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva and Arthur Harari’s The Unknown. Minotaur premiered in Cannes where it took the Grand Prix. It then screened in Sydney, winning best film, and is slated to play at San Sebastian.
Directed by Zvyagintsev, who has lived in exile from Russia, the French-German-Latvian co-production examines the mood in Russia in 2022 as provincial businessmen confront the consequences of their country’s invasion of Ukraine, including workers being drafted and calls for financial contributions to the war. Dmitriy Mazurov stars as company director Gleb, whose outwardly secure life begins to collapse amid suspicions about his wife, played by Iris Lebedeva.
Minotaur is Zvyagintsev’s first feature since Loveless in 2017, the Cannes Jury Prize winner that later earned an Oscar nomination. The new film is lead produced by Paris-based CG Cinéma, Mk2 Productions and Latvia’s Forma Pro Films. Mubi has scheduled the U.S. theatrical release for November 20, 2026.
The choice marks the second consecutive year France has selected a non-French language picture for its international feature submission, following last year’s pick of Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident. With festival awards and a commercial release lined up, Minotaur now heads into the awards season as France’s formal contender at the 99th Academy Awards.
