Guest curator Natalie Neuert
This sweeping, delirious romance by Paweł Pawlikowski begins in the Soviet-ruled Polish countryside of late 1940s, where Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), a musician on a state-sponsored mission to collect folk songs, discovers a captivating young singer named Zula (Joanna Kulig, in a performance for the ages). Over the next fifteen years, their turbulent relationship plays out in stolen moments between the jazz clubs of decadent bohemian Paris, to which he escapes, and the corrupt, repressive Communist Bloc, where she remains—universes bridged by their passion for music and for each other. Photographed in luscious monochrome and suffused with the melancholy of the simple folk song that provides a motif for the couple’s fateful affair, Pawlikowski’s timeless story—inspired by that of his own parents—is a heart-stoppingly grand vision of star-crossed love caught up in the tide of history. The film earned a Best Director Oscar nomination for Pawlikowsi, which followed his Best International Film Oscar for 2013’s Ida.
Natalie Neuert has spent her entire working life within the realm of the performing arts. Currently she is the Director of the UVM Lane Series, a position she has held since 2012. Prior to being named Director, she managed the series for 16 years. As Director, her focus is on programming over 25 shows a year from folk music, jazz, world music, classical, and more.