STALKER: The Frida Cinema

Mythic and masterful, Andrei Tarkovsky’s transcendental Stalker closes out our Soviet September series.

Buried beyond the fog of an industrial town is an area known only as “The Zone”. Protected by a military blockade, the mysterious Zone is believed to contain a room that grants wishes. A Writer seeking creative inspiration and an intellectually curious Professor hire a guide – or “stalker” – to escort them through the hazardous terrain and into the Zone.

Andrei Tarkovsky adapts the censored 1972 novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky with deep humanism and patient long takes that enrich the emotional tissue of this astonishing science fiction story.

The Frida Cinema is proud to partner with our friends at South East European Film Festival (SEEFest) to present Soviet September, a series of nine acclaimed films representing six decades of cinema from the former Soviet Union (1922 - 1991).

“The worlds in which Tarkovsky plunges us becomes utterly compelling — even as they weary — and we emerge feeling that we have experienced a revelation, no matter how shrouded in ambiguity.” – Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times

“Through a series of long, disquieting passages, Tarkovsky meditates on his abiding themes of political and spiritual anguish, translating the mysteries of human consciousness into some of the most visually arresting set pieces of his career.” – Mark Le Fanu, Criterion

“Stalker abounds with moments of baffling beauty and philosophical heft within its vast finitude, in which the seeming mundanity of the action casts moments [of] spiritual and philosophical rapture further into relief.” – John Semley, Salon

Host or Publisher The Frida Cinema