"A hauntingly beautiful film." - David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
"Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film." - Ingmar Bergman
"Not so much a movie as a place to inhabit for two hours." - J. Hoberman
Filmed in Italy while isolated from his native Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky’s NOSTALGHIA is a brooding, darkly poetic vision of exile. Russian researcher Andrei is working in Italy where he becomes obsessed with the Botticelli-like beauty of his translator Eugenia, as well as with the apocalyptic ramblings of a self-destructive wanderer named Domenico. Written with frequent Michelangelo Antonioni collaborator Tonino Guerra, NOSTALGHIA is a mystical collision of cultures, shot with a tactile beauty that only Tarkovsky can provide.
Awards & Nominations
Winner - Best Director (tied with Robert Bresson for L'ARGENT), Cannes Film Festival
Winner - FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee - Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival
Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective
August 29–September 30, 2026
Born in Moscow and ending his life in exile, filmmaker, screenwriter, and film theorist, Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986) created some of cinema’s most indelible images in his relatively small filmography. Employing an innovative approach to cinematic time and painstaking world-building, Tarkovsky’s films are rich metaphysical explorations into historical and 20th-century Russian and Soviet life. Born to literary parents, his movies exhibit an innate poetic sensibility; small gestures and grand set-pieces become rich expressions of inner life, spirituality, and shared anxiety. Working often with cinematographer Vadim Yusov, Tarkovsky created a visual style that feels contemporary even 40 years after his death.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu