Andrei Tarkovsky was a Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director. His work is characterized by unconventionally long takes, sparse dramatic structure, poetic imagery, and spiritual and metaphysical themes. He has been called a progenitor of slow cinema.

Tarkovsky`s films include Ivan`s Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979). He directed the first five of his seven feature films in the Soviet Union; his last two films, Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986), were produced in Italy and Sweden, respectively. The films Andrei Rublev, Solaris, Mirror, and Stalker are regularly listed among the greatest films of all time.