A frail young violinist and a gruff steamroller operator strike up an unlikely friendship in Tarkovsky’s skillful diploma film from the Soviet film academy, VGIK. A student film in name only, The Steamroller and the Violin holds the seeds of Tarkovsky’s future career, both in its theme of artistic survival and, more importantly, in its credits: it was here that Tarkovsky met his future cameraman and composer. It was cowritten with Andrei Konchalovsky, who would himself become a great Soviet filmmaker. 

—Jason Sanders

Followed By 
Voyage in Time (Italy, 1983). Two great artists unite in this visual diary of Tarkovsky and screenwriter Tonino Guerra’s travels across Lecce, Tuscany, and the Amalfi Coast while location scouting for Nostalghia (screening 7.18.15).