Russia labels acclaimed filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev a 'foreign agent'

Acclaimed Russian film director Andrey ​Zvyagintsev, who has repeatedly criticised Moscow's ‌war ​in Ukraine, was designated on Friday as a "foreign agent", state news agency TASS said.

Russia has applied the label, ‌which has connotations of espionage, to numerous people, including public figures, who it deems to be engaging in anti-Russian activity with support from abroad. Zvyagintsev won the Grand Prix ‌at the Cannes Film Festival this year for "Minotaur", a film depicting a Russian ‌businessman who is forced to decide which of his employees should be mobilised to go and fight in Ukraine.

"Millions of people on both sides of the front line dream of only one ⁠thing: for ​the massacres to ⁠stop," Zvyagintsev said in his acceptance speech, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only person ⁠capable of ending the war. Critics described "Minotaur" as one of Zvyagintsev's most openly critical commentaries ​on Russia's political and moral condition.

The director, who has lived outside Russia since ⁠the COVID pandemic, is known for a series of other films including "The Return", "The Banishment" and "Leviathan", a bleak ⁠portrayal ​of life in rural Russia. People listed as foreign agents are subjected to onerous bureaucratic requirements and restrictions on their income in Russia.

They have to warn in ⁠capital letters on everything they publish, including on social media, that the content was produced ⁠by a foreign ⁠agent. Among other cultural figures to be labelled in this way are writer Boris Akunin and rock musician Boris Grebenshchikov.