Filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev has given his first interview since his serious bout with illness. It doesn’t look like his recovery is completely done and he is wheelchair-bound.
At least, he is out of a medically-induced coma in Germany after undergoing treatment for a severe case of COVID-19. If you remember, last summer, reports had emerged that Zvyagintsev had been transferred to Germany for treatment after contracting COVID-19. The filmmaker was in very serious condition, having suffered damage to 92 percent of his lungs. He was put in a medically-induced coma and on extracorporeal life support (ECLS).
The Russian director was in the middle of production for his movie, “What Happens,” which was going to be his English-language debut. The feature was on a newly unveiled slate from Russian mega-producer Alexander Rodnyansky alongside a Steven Soderbergh co-production. Rodynansky went on social media and promised the film, and others he produced, including Kantemir Balagov’s “Monica,” would be completed “outside of Russia.”
Zvyagintsev is a two-time Oscar nominee known for masterful Russian cinema (“The Return,” “Elena,” “Leviathan,” and “Loveless,”) among others. He won the Venice Film Festival’s main prize in 2003 and the Cannes Film Festival’s Jury Prize in 2017.