Russian ‘Manipulative Smart Power’: Zviagintsev’s Oscar nomination, (non-)government agency and contradictions of the globalized world

Through an analysis of government documents regulating the film industry, I examine the structure and reach of Russian soft power in relation to BRICS and the West. I introduce the concept of ‘manipulative soft power’ to account for Russia’s re-orientation politically and also cinematically. The article explores a number of theoretical concerns including soft power and agency in the era of social media, soft power and the ‘attention economy’ where ‘attention currency’ is valued more than the product to which it is attached, and soft power and controversy and notoriety. I focus on a particular event: the release of Zviagintsev’s Leviathan, its nomination for the 2015 Oscars, and the associated controversy that engulfed Russia and the Russian speaking world in 2014–15 and that bled into international media, especially Anglophone media, thus re-focusing global attention on Russia. I analyse the government and media discourse surrounding the release of Leviathan, and I conclude by reflecting on Russian soft power and the country’s role in the process of globalization.