The Sacrifice
Poetic, mystical, philosophical, Andrei Tarkovsky’s body of work is among the most significant and captivating of the 20th century. This retrospective offers the opportunity to explore his oeuvre in nearly its entirety on the big screen, where it belongs, from Ivan's Childhood to The Sacrifice. In addition to the filmmaker's renowned seven feature films, we are also presenting the medium-length film The Steamroller and the Violin, his graduation project from VGIK in Moscow.
Winner of the Grand Prix, 1986 Cannes Film Festival
Alexander is an old writer living in seclusion on a Swedish island. During an evening with friends, he learns that a global nuclear war has broken out, which means the end of the world is coming. Alexander is ready to sacrifice everything to get things back to the way they were, and is told that the local witch might be able to grant his wish.
Andrei Tarkovsky
Considered one of the greatest Soviet directors, Andrei Tarkovsky directed seven feature films that place him among the masters of cinema. Awarded the Golden Lion at the 1962 Venice Film Festival, his first film, Ivan's Childhood, is seen as a sign of renewal in Soviet cinema. However, he immediately distanced himself from any pro-Soviet political considerations with his next film, Andrei Rublev (1966), which led to censorship for his subsequent films. Unable to obtain funding from Soviet authorities, he left the USSR at the end of the 1970s to make his last two films, Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986), for which he received the Grand Prix at Cannes. His demanding and mystical work explores many themes such as childhood, Russian history, everyday life, as well as the connection to the land and to natural elements. His films, including Stalker (1979) and The Mirror (1975), are considered classics.
