Andrei Tarkovsky’s iconic “Stalker” at the Barbican

From April 1 to 29, Barbican presents Cold War Visions, a film season exploring how the fear of nuclear war was portrayed in cinema across the Eastern Bloc. The programme brings together films from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, offering perspectives rarely seen in the Western cinematic canon.

Spanning seven decades and seven films, the season moves through different genres and artistic approaches — from science fiction to philosophical drama. Highlights include Andrei Tarkovsky’s iconic Stalker (1979), his final film The Sacrifice (1986), and the restored Czechoslovak sci-fi classic Ikarie XB-1 (1963).

Marking 40 years since the Chornobyl disaster, the programme revisits cinematic visions of nuclear anxiety and reflects on how these imagined futures resonate today.

For more information and tickets click on ‘buy ticket’.