What are our attendees saying?

  • This is a great festival with a really good mix of genres, topics and countries represented. It's fantastic to have this in Glasgow!

  • I hope that this festival is able to continue. It is the first time I have felt connected to my heritage of being Ukrainian while living in Glasgow over the past four years. The hosts were lovely, and the curation was fantastic

  • Thank you for organising this film festival. I wish it success and continuation next year!

  • Makes me very happy to finally see some Eastern European representation in Scotland

  • Great event! Have never watched Hungarian cinema before but will be watching more!

  • Please support to run this festival next year

  • Thank you so much for organising Samizdat! I have a Kazakh friend who is back in Kazakhstan. I can't wait to tell her about the movies I saw today!

  • I thought it was amazing to have someone from Ukraine on Zoom talking about their experience. This is an important and thought-provoking event

  • I plan on seeing more next year. I am very impressed with this wonderfully curated collection

  • It's a tremendous opportunity to see, hear, and visit new worlds

  • My first time attending the CCA and what an excellent debut! The guest lecture at the intro was very informative and added another layer to an already wonderful offering

  • Great selection! Thank you for bringing such a wide selection of films to Glasgow

samizdat in the press

2022

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, ‘5 stars: Salt for Svanetia review – poetic, dreamlike Soviet documentary of forgotten world’

European Cultural Foundation, ‘Samizdat Film Festival: Scotland’s first film event dedicated entirely to cinema from Eastern Europe’

Lee Dalgetty, Glasgow Live, ‘Glasgow to host groundbreaking Eastern European Film Festival’

Amanda Sonesson, Lossi 36, ‘New film festival to showcase Eastern European Cinema’

Anahit Behrooz, The Skinny, ‘Scotland’s Best Events This Week’

GFF Reviews, ‘Review: The Staffroom’

2023

Anahit Behrooz, The Skinny, ‘What’s On Scotland: Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival & more’

Lossi36, 'Lossi 36 at the 2023 Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival’

What’s On Glasgow, ‘Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival’

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, ‘4 stars: Bratan review – warm-hearted road movie is all about the journey’

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, ‘4 stars: House on the Volcano review – silent classic of Soviet Armenia glories in machine age’

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, ‘4 stars: Some Interviews on Personal Matters review – offbeat Coppola-esque romcom from 1970s Tbilisi’

Caitlin MacDonald, The Glasgow Guardian, ‘Cinema as identity’