Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that the Oscar is not "a unit of measure for the talent of filmmakers", and called the category "Best Foreign Language Film" strange. Thus, he commented on the awards ceremony of the American Film Academy.

“Andrei Zvyagintsev is a talented artist representing a strong Russian school, and only the viewer and time put the true assessment of his paintings. I am sure that really strong canvases and big prizes are waiting for him ahead, ”Medinsky said.

“The American film award “Oscar” should no longer be perceived by us as a unit of measure for the talent of film masters, especially in the strange category “Foreign language film,” said Medinsky.

Interfax

Andrey Zvyagintsev's film "Leviathan" was nominated for an Oscar, but the award went to the film "Ida" by Pavel Pawlikowski.
In December 2013, Vladimir Medinsky said that the Oscar is an extremely politicized award. It is precisely because of this, according to the minister, that the film "Stalingrad" by Fyodor Bondarchuk was not among the nominees.
Zvyagintsev's picture The Minister of Culture called prohibitively opportunistic. According to him, the state should not finance films that "are not just focused on criticizing the current government, but openly spit on it, filled with the spirit of hopelessness and meaninglessness of our existence."
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Medinsky refused to consider the Oscar “a unit of measurement of the talent of cinema masters”