Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev's film "Minotaur" received the jury special prize at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. The festival's main award, the Palme d'Or, was given to Romanian director Cristian Mungiu's film "Fjord." The premiere of "Minotaur" took place on May 20 and was met with approximately 10 minutes of applause from the audience. The film stars Iris Lebedeva, Dmitriy Mazurov, and Varvara Shmykova; filming took place in Riga. The film tells the story of a major company executive who learns of his spouse's betrayal and confronts state oppression. Zvyagintsev has directed nine feature films in his career and was previously nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2015 with the film "Leviathan." The director's other notable works include films such as "Loveless" and "Elena." Zvyagintsev's cinema career began with theater education and he has won various awards. Since 2022, the director has been living in France and is considered an important figure in the film world.