Ghosts of Past/Graves of Future

This video essay explores Tarkovsky’s 1979 sci-fi classic, Stalker, through the lens of the philosophical concept of hauntology. Hauntology refers to the potential for dead or dying ideals to return and haunt the cultural ethos of subsequent generations. This essay intersperses scenes from the film with Soviet-era propaganda footage to highlight the visual discord between Stalker’s post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, and the illusory, utopian future the USSR failed to manifest. By melding the two forms of media together, the essay draws a causal line from past to future, and from aspiration to intergenerational trauma.