---
name: "Andrey Zvyagintsev"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/andrey-zvyagintsev"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "6 February 1964"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 84
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T08:43:52.660561+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Andrey Zvyagintsev

Director and writer. Born 6 February 1964 in Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, USSR [now Russia].

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 6 February 1964, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, USSR [now Russia]
- **Active:** 2014–2017
- **Also known as:** Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev, Andrej Swjaginzew, Andrei Zvyagintsev, 안드레이 즈비아긴체프, Andreï Petrovitch Zviaguintsev
- **Frequently works with:** [Alexander Rodnyansky](https://film.one/person/alexander-rodnyansky.md), [Oleg Negin](https://film.one/person/oleg-negin.md), [Sergey Melkumov](https://film.one/person/sergey-melkumov.md)
- **Golden Globes:** 2 Golden Globes (2 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Zvyagintsev, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q122425, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1168657/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/68519

## Coming up

- *Minotaur* (2026-10-14), Director

## Fi1m on Andrey Zvyagintsev

> Andrey Zvyagintsev makes severe, carefully composed dramas about families under pressure. We recommend starting with *Leviathan*, where the people are unexpectedly funny and worth caring about, even when the religious symbolism grows too heavy.

A landscape stays on screen long enough for us to notice how little of it the people occupy. Mikhail Krichman, Zvyagintsev’s regular cinematographer, is important to that effect: the long, static, wide shots give us time to register the surroundings as well as the faces. People can look stranded simply because there is so much space around them. We value that patience, though it puts pressure on what the actors are given to do within the frame.

The early features, *The Return* (2003) and *The Banishment* (2007), belong to the more abstract stretch of his work. *Elena* (2011) makes the turn towards more concrete observation of class and family tensions in contemporary Russia. By *Leviathan* (2014), those concerns have become a working man’s struggle against corrupt local power, spreading into his family and the wider community. *Loveless* (2017) keeps the focus on family failure, with parental neglect at its centre. The useful way into this progression is through the households: notice what people do to one another before deciding what they are meant to represent.

In *Leviathan*, Zvyagintsev and co-writer Oleg Negin let their characters be selfish and ridiculous before asking us to pity them. That matters in a story where officials have the power to do far more harm than the people confronting them. We laughed more than we expected at *Leviathan*, because Zvyagintsev gives these embattled people time to be awkward rather than asking for pity at every turn. We care more because we have been allowed to find them difficult company. The acting sustains that sympathy without making anyone more agreeable.

The reservation is the weight he places on religious symbolism in *Leviathan*. It grows heavy enough to distract from a struggle that the writing and performances have already made clear. The family’s weaknesses and the officials’ greater ones give us enough to think about without quite so much insistence. This is a flaw in a film we strongly recommend, rather than a reason to dismiss its severity. Choose it for an evening when difficult company is welcome, and do not mistake the laughter for reassurance.

## Biography

Andrey Zvyagintsev is a Russian film director and screenwriter. Born in Novosibirsk in 1964, he trained as an actor at the Novosibirsk Theatrical School and later at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts in Moscow. He worked as an actor in theatre and film before directing television episodes and making his feature debut.

His first feature, *The Return* (2003), won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Subsequent films include *The Banishment* (2007), *Elena* (2011), *Leviathan* (2014) and *Loveless* (2017). *Leviathan*, which he co-wrote, won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes, the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Loveless* (2017), Fi1m 83, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/loveless.md)
- *Leviathan* (2014), Fi1m 85, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/leviathan-2014.md)

## Complete filmography (18)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Minotaur* (2026), Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
- *Cannes 2026 With Anton Dolin* (2026), Acting
- *Who Left the Light…* (2018), Acting
- *Loveless* (2017), Director, Writer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/loveless.md)
- *Leviathan* (2014), Director, Writer — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/leviathan-2014.md)
- *Mystery* (2011), Director
- *Elena* (2011), Director, Screenplay
- *Experiment 5ive* (2011), Director
- *Apocrypha* (2009), Director, Writer
- *The Banishment* (2008), Director
- *The Return* (2003), Director
- *Busido* (2000), Director
- *Black Room* (2000), series, Director
- *Kamenskaya* (1999), series, as Валерий Турбин
- *Reflection* (1998), as секретарь
- *The Little Cat* (1997), Acting
- *What a Mess!* (1995), as journalist (uncredited)
- *Leviathan - The Making Of*, Acting

## Gallery

- ![Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://film.one/media/person/686037/gallery-b93962582dfd.jpg) Andrey Zvyagintsev — Image via TMDB
- ![Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://film.one/media/person/686037/gallery-1fdd85a31a44.jpg) Andrey Zvyagintsev — Image via TMDB
- ![Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://film.one/media/person/686037/gallery-43359b817aa6.jpg) Andrey Zvyagintsev — Image via TMDB
- ![Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://film.one/media/person/686037/gallery-548ce9e42b49.jpg) Andrey Zvyagintsev — Image via TMDB
- ![Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://film.one/media/person/686037/gallery-5bd97e9639f2.jpg) Andrey Zvyagintsev — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Golden Globes — 2 won

- 2015: Golden Globe Awards (won)
- 2015: Best Non-English Language Film (won), for *Leviathan*

### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won

- 2026: Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix (won), for *Minotaur*

### Other awards — 6 won, 8 nominated

- César Award 2018: César Award (won)
- César Award for Best Foreign Film 2018: César Award for Best Foreign Film (won), for *Loveless*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2017: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Loveless*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2017: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *Loveless*
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2017: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (nominated), for *Loveless*
- European University Film Award 2017: European University Film Award (nominated), for *Loveless*
- Jury Prize 2017: Jury Prize (won)
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2015: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (nominated), for *Leviathan*
- Best Screenplay Award 2014: Best Screenplay Award (won), for *Leviathan*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2014: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Leviathan*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2014: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *Leviathan*
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2014: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (nominated), for *Leviathan*
- Golden Eagle Awards 2012: Golden Eagle Awards (won)
- European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year 2003: European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year (won), for *The Return*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/andrey-zvyagintsev