— Oscar for Best Cinematography, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design and Scoring, Academy Awards, 1976

— Best Direction and Cinematography, BAFTA Award, 1976

In 18th Century Europe, a charming Irish rogue eager for the wealth and privilege of nobility sets about climbing the social ladder in order to get what he wants, facing many setbacks along the way.

300 days of shooting. Ultra-rare Zeiss lenses — only 10 ever made. A fanatical pursuit of authenticity, down to every gesture, every button, every powdered wig. Barry Lyndon is a technical marvel and Kubrick’s towering monument to perfectionism — a time machine built to transport you straight into the 18th century. You may not love it. You may not even fully grasp it. But resisting its pull is impossible — and missing it on the big screen is, frankly, a cinematic crime. Without Barry Lyndon, Kubrick’s reputation as cinema’s most cold-blooded surgeon would be only half as mythic.

Stanley Kubrick remains a fixture on the private altars of cinephiles around the world. His singular personality and the nature of his films have forged one of the most powerful brands in the history of cinema — surrounded by a legion of legends. This 50th anniversary screening doesn’t aim to debunk the myths or rewrite the facts. But half a century later — with cinema and its audiences both transformed — the film demands to be seen again, from a new vantage point.

— Serhiy Ksaverov, festival curator