Director Andrei Zvyagintsev claimed the Sydney Film Award on Sunday night for his thriller Minotaur, set in modern Russia, as organizers concluded the 73rd Sydney Film Festival’s 12-day run at the State Theater with the event’s highest-grossing film festival in history.
The A$60,000 (approximately $42,200) award is given to films deemed “bold, cutting edge and brave” and was decided by an international jury led by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, Hungarian filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi, Singaporean director Bu Junfeng, Australian cinematographer Ali Wegner and Australian Indigenous producer and director Sally Riley.
“Minotaur” won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Zvyagintsev, who accepted the Sydney Award in person, was on his first trip to Australia in more than a decade, and spoke at the ceremony underscoring the film’s importance to Russian audiences. “I want to thank the jury that made this decision, because this film means a lot to the people who are currently struggling in Russia,” he said. “The Russian language is struggling. This film is very important for them.”
In a joint statement, the jury described Minotaur as a work that tackles the abuse of power that feels “very Hitchcockian, very cinematic,” and said it chronicles modern Russia and deals with themes that, unfortunately, will never go out of style.
Prior to his victory, Zvyagintsev also took part in a master class during the festival.
The announcement was made ahead of the Australian premiere and closing night screening of James Gray’s thriller Paper Tiger. Festival CEO Francis Wallace predicted attendance would increase by 10% year-on-year, from 157,000 in 2025 to an estimated 170,000, and youth pass sales would increase by more than 30%.
“SFF73 was a huge success from opening to closing, making history as the festival’s highest-grossing show in its 73 years for the second year in a row,” said Wallace.
Among other awards handed out at the ceremony, the A$40,000 ($28,100) Sustainable Future Award, billed as the world’s largest environmental film award, went to Skundimi Walks Before Me, a documentary directed by Mataslia Freshwater and Lachlan MacLeod that follows the Papua New Guinea indigenous community’s fight to protect the Sepik River from mining. The A$35,000 ($24,600) First Nations Award, sponsored by Tuant Pictures, went to Banki Hanuse for Ceremony, a hybrid documentary that traces memory and colonialism through the land of Nuxalk. V.C. won the Documentary Australian Award ($14,100) for Time and Tide, a hybrid docudrama about the pressures of a multi-generational family, and writer-director Fadia Aboud won the Sydney UNESCO Urban Film Award ($7,000), sponsored by Screen NSW.
At the Dendi Awards for Australian Short Films held the night before, Siena Mayutji Umali Stubbs won the Australian $7,000 ($4,900) Live Action Short Film Award for Maŋutji (Catching Eyes). The AU$7,000 ($4,900) Yoram Gross Animation Award and the AU$7,000 ($4,900) Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for Best Screenplay went to Judith Pungarta Inkamara, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams and Nelson Armstrong for Our Choir Has Always Been Traveling. Christabel Sved won the Ruben Mamoulian Award for Best Director, AUD 7,000 (approximately $4,900) for Date 3, and the AFTRS Craft Award for Best Practitioner, AUD 7,000 (approximately $4,900), went to Fresh Fruit production designers Angelina Kovacs and Sophie Lavant.
Festival Director Nashen Moodley said: “The Sydney Film Festival is fantastic and it’s great to see cinemas filled every day and across the city.” “We welcomed more than 100 filmmakers from around the world and screened their films to a very engaged and engaged audience. We see that cinema as a collective experience is thriving. Congratulations to all the winners and the filmmakers who submitted to the festival, and thank you to the jury for making the difficult choices.”
The Sydney Film Awards competition is approved by FIAPF. Previous award-winning works include “It Was Just an Accident” (2025) and “There’s Still Tomorrow” (2024).
winner
Sydney Film Awards — AU$60,000 ($42,200)
Director of “Minotaur”. Andrei Zvyagintsev
Sustainable Future Award — AU$40,000 ($28,100)
Director of “Sukundimi Walks Before Me”. Mataslia Freshwater and Lachlan McLeod
First Nations Award (sponsored by Truant Pictures) — AU$35,000 ($24,600)
“Ceremony”, director. Bunch Hanse
Documentary Australia Award — 20,000 Australian dollars ($14,100)
Director of “Time and Tide.” Vecie
Sydney – UNESCO City of Cinema Award — AU$10,000 ($7,000)
Fadia Aboud (screenwriter/director)
Dendy Live Action Short Award — AU$7,000 ($4,900)
Director of “Maŋutji” (Eye-catching). Sienna Mayuts Umali Stubbs
Yoram Gross Animation Award — AUD 7,000 ($4,900)
“Our choir is always on the road,” says the director. Judith Pungarta Inkamara, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams, Nelson Armstrong
Ruben Mamoulian Award for Best Australian Manager — AU$7,000 ($4,900)
Christabel Sved “Date 3”
AFTRS Craft Award for Best Practitioner — AU$7,000 ($4,900)
Angelina Kovacs and Sophie Lavant, production designers “Fresh Fruit”
Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award (Best Screenplay) — AU$7,000 ($4,900)
Judith Pungarta Inkamara, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams, Nelson Armstrong “Our choir has always traveled”
