For his work on "Moloch" Yuri received the Best Screenplay Award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and the Best Script award at the 1999 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards. His screenplay for "Taurus" was also distinguished by the Best Script award at the 2001 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards and the 2002 Nika Award. He also received Nika Awards for both "The Sun" and "Faust", as well as "A Room and a Half" — a semi-biographical film about Joseph Brodsky directed and co-written by Andrei Khrzhanovsky in 2009.