Introduced by Annette Insdorf, Columbia University Film Professor and author of “Philip Kaufman," on Saturday, August 1

Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.

4K Restoration! In translating Milan Kundera’s supposedly “unfilmable” novel to the big screen, writer-director Philip Kaufman and co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière chose to focus on the trio of main characters – a womanizing surgeon, an earnest young waitress and a cynical artist – as they navigate the political and social upheavals of life in Europe in the late 1960s. Encompassing such turbulent events as the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is also a highly charged examination of sexuality, fidelity, creativity and personal growth. Kaufman and Carrière received an Academy Award nomination for Adapted Screenplay for their work, and Sven Nykvist’s luminous cinematography was also recognized with an Oscar nomination.

1988 Academy Award Nominee for Cinematography & Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Academy Museum film programming is generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.