The screening on October 5th will be introduced by writer Daniel Bird.
Based on the musical recording of the famous opera by Modest Mussorgsky, whereby a possible impostor torments a newly crowned medieval czar who may have ordered the real successor’s death. Never before screened theatrically in the UK, Andrzej Żuławski's adaptation of Boris Godunov is about the tragic events surrounding the ruling of the Russian tsar in the early 17th century. The recording itself was made two years before the filming with the participation of the Washington Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich, and several opera stars including Ruggero Raimondi.
Żuławski's film situates the viewer inside the metafictional space of the opera house, just as if the audience were watching the performance live. Highly controversial at the time of release, the director deliberately fills the picture with a plenty of anachronisms, commenting on Soviet history and other dictatorships of the 20th century.
Daniel Bird is a writer based in France. Since interviewing him as a student, he has worked frequently with Andrzej Żuławski, helping with the North American release of the director's cut of Possession, as well as assisting with subtitling, restorations, and script editing. Alongside curated programmes at Ciné Lumière and the Horse Hospital, Daniel has also worked with some of Żuławski’s key collaborators including composer Andrzej Korzyński, cinematographer Andrzej J. Jaroszewicz, and costume designer Magdalena Teslawska.
