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Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer

2019 | 97 minutes | Italy, Russia, Sweden
Director: Andrey A. Tarkovskiy
Writer: Andrey A. Tarkovskiy
Language: Russian

Venice Film Festival, 2019
Montreal International Documentary Festival, 2019

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An affectionate, intimate portrait of one of cinema’s greatest artists, Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer is a revealing behind-the-scenes documentary about the life and work of the extraordinary Russian director through the eyes of his son, Andrey A. Tarkovsky. Weaving together archival footage of his father on set, generous excerpts from all his films, audio recordings of him speaking about life and cinema, and many passages from his writings, Tarkovsky the son offers illuminating perspectives on this sometimes misunderstood artist and his cinematic art.

In addition, the film explores Tarkovsky the elder’s fascinating, occasionally troubled relationship with his own father, the peripatetic poet Arseni Tarkovsky. Locating Tarkovsky’s works in the context of the Cold War – Tarkovksy himself defected from the Soviet Union to Italy in the early 1980s and made his final film, The Sacrifice, in Sweden before dying in Paris several months later – A Cinema Prayer underscores just how unusual these spiritually driven works were and how clever Tarkovsky was to have gotten them made in the ideologically and aesthetically strict era under Presidents Kruschev, Brezhnev, and Andropov.

Both a heartfelt tribute to his father, and a searching examination of his life, work, and times, this film sheds marvelous new light on a film legend. Essential viewing, especially for Tarkovsky fans.
-Tom McSorley


 

Screenings

SATURDAY, MARCH 28
1:00PM

Ottawa Art Gallery
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SUNDAY, MARCH 29
12:30PM

Mayfair Theatre
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Preceded by the short film

No Crying at the Dinner Table

A collection of family secrets, confessions and confrontation.

Paired with the feature Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer, what makes these films alike actually serves to highlight what sets them apart. Both are documentaries about the filmmakers’ respective parents, however the personal stories told in each reveal two very distinct families with two very unique histories.