Russia labels director of Cannes Grand Prix winner a 'foreign agent'

Russia on Friday said it had added the director of the Cannes Grand Prix winner "Minotaur", a grim oeuvre set against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, to its list of foreign agents.

Andrey Zvyagintsev's film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It revolves around a mini-oligarch in provincial Russia who comes up with a toxic way to feed the war machine.

Russia's justice ministry on Friday accused Zvyagintsev of disseminating "false information about decisions taken by the public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies they pursue".

"He interacted with foreign agents and resides outside the Russian Federation," it said.

The 62-year old Siberian-born filmmaker lives in France.

Zvyagintsev did not immediately react.

In his Grand Prix acceptance speech in May, Zvyagintsev called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the "carnage," adding: "The whole world is waiting for it."

The "foreign agent" label -- which Russian authorities apply to critics of the Kremlin and Ukraine war -- bars an individual from holding public office and forces them to register their activities with the authorities.

In March, Russia declared the co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin" a foreign agent, accusing him of having "disseminated inaccurate information" about the Ukraine war.

Russia has launched legal proceedings against thousands of critics of its Ukraine offensive since it began in 2022.