Andrey Zvyagintsev claimed the Sydney Film Prize on Sunday night for “Minotaur,” his thriller set against the backdrop of contemporary Russia, as the 73rd Sydney Film Festival wrapped its 12-day run at the State Theatre with what organizers described as the highest-selling festival in the event’s history.

The AUD$60,000 ($42,200) prize – awarded for work deemed “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” – was determined by an international jury led by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, joined by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, Singaporean director Boo Junfeng, Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner and Australian First Nations producer-director Sally Riley.

“Minotaur” had previously won the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year. Accepting the Sydney prize in person – his first visit to Australia in more than a decade – Zvyagintsev addressed the ceremony with remarks that underscored the film’s stakes for audiences inside Russia. “I would like to thank the jury for this decision, because this film means a lot to people who are struggling at the moment in Russia,” he said. “The Russian language is struggling. This film is very important to them.”

In their joint statement, the jury described “Minotaur” as a work that tackles the abuse of power in a register that felt “strongly Hitchcockian, strongly cinematic” – a chronicle of contemporary Russia that they said addressed a subject that, unfortunately, never goes out of style.

Zvyagintsev had also participated in a Masterclass during the festival ahead of his win.

The announcement preceded the Australian premiere of James Gray’s thriller “Paper Tiger,” the closing-night screening. Festival CEO Frances Wallace said attendance had grown a projected 10% year-on-year to an estimated 170,000 – up from 157,000 in 2025 – with Youth Pass sales rising more than 30%.

“SFF73 was such a buzz from opening to closing and again for the second year in a row, making history by becoming the highest selling box office in the festival’s 73 years,” Wallace said.

Among the other awards presented at the ceremony, the AUD$40,000 ($28,100) Sustainable Future Award – billed as the world’s largest environmental film prize – went to “Sukundimi Walks Before Me,” a documentary directed by Mataslia Freshwater and Lachlan McLeod that follows an Indigenous PNG community’s fight to protect the Sepik River from mining. The AUD$35,000 ($24,600) First Nations Award, supported by Truant Pictures, went to Banchi Hanuse for “Ceremony,” a hybrid documentary tracing memory and colonialism through Nuxalk lands. Vee Shi received the AUD$20,000 ($14,100) Documentary Australia Award for “Time and Tide,” a hybrid docu-drama about multigenerational family pressures, while writer-director Fadia Abboud took the AUD$10,000 ($7,000) Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award, presented by Screen NSW.

At the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, held the previous evening, Siena Mayutu Wumarri Stubbs won the AUD$7,000 ($4,900) Dendy Live Action Short Award for “Maŋutji (Catching Eyes).” The AUD$7,000 ($4,900) Yoram Gross Animation Award and the AUD$7,000 ($4,900) Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for Screenwriting went to Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams and Nelson Armstrong for “Our Choir Has Always Been Travelling.” Cristabel Sved received the AUD$7,000 ($4,900) Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director for “Date 3,” and the AUD$7,000 ($4,900) AFTRS Craft Award for Best Practitioner went to production designers Angelina Kovacs and Sophie Ravant for “Flesh Fruit.”

“It has been a terrific edition of Sydney Film Festival and such a delight to see cinemas full every day and all around the city,” festival director Nashen Moodley said. “We welcomed over 100 filmmakers from around the world who presented their films to very enthusiastic and engaged audiences. It really feels that cinema as a collective experience is thriving. Congratulations to all the winners of awards and all filmmakers with films at the festival and our thanks to the juries who made the difficult choices.”

The Sydney Film Prize competition is endorsed by FIAPF. Previous winners include “It Was Just an Accident” (2025) and “There’s Still Tomorrow” (2024).

WINNERS
Sydney Film Prize — AUD$60,000 ($42,200)
“Minotaur,” dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev

Sustainable Future Award — AUD$40,000 ($28,100)
“Sukundimi Walks Before Me,” dir. Mataslia Freshwater and Lachlan McLeod

First Nations Award (supported by Truant Pictures) — AUD$35,000 ($24,600)
“Ceremony,” dir. Banchi Hanuse

Documentary Australia Award — AUD$20,000 ($14,100)
“Time and Tide,” dir. Vee Shi

Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award — AUD$10,000 ($7,000)
Fadia Abboud (writer/director)

Dendy Live Action Short Award — AUD $7,000 ($4,900)
“Maŋutji (Catching Eyes),” dir. Siena Mayutu Wumarri Stubbs

Yoram Gross Animation Award — AUD$7,000 ($4,900)
“Our Choir Has Always Been Travelling,” dir. Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams and Nelson Armstrong

Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Australian Director — AUD$7,000 ($4,900)
Cristabel Sved, “Date 3”

AFTRS Craft Award for Best Practitioner — AUD$7,000 ($4,900)
Angelina Kovacs and Sophie Ravant, production designers, “Flesh Fruit”

Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for Screenwriting — AUD$7,000 ($4,900)
Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams and Nelson Armstrong, “Our Choir Has Always Been Travelling”