Part of Samizdat 2024 Short Film Competition
Wheelchair accessible, English subtitles, £6 (concession) / £8 (full price)
If you want to attend this screening but find it unaffordable, you may be able to have the cost of your ticket, commute, and/or childcare covered by the Audience Access Fund — see here for further details.
Samizdat is continuing and expanding its Short Film Competition. This year, 17 titles — from Estonia to Kyrgyzstan — will compete for the main prize, awarded based on audience voting.
Content notes: war, state oppression, trauma and grief, blood, discussions of ethnic discrimination, sexual assault, offensive language.
Access notes: fast-moving images, flickering and colourful images, sudden loud noises (passing cars, sirens, singing), bright and colourful images, fast-moving images, occasional black-and-white cinematography, sudden loud noises (sirens, welding, plastic bag crinkling).
Co-curated by Natalia Guzevataya, misha irekleh, and Kirill Kartashov
Programme (in order of screening)
I’ve Got to Tell You Something (Vreau să spun ceva) by Eugen Marian, Moldova
Eighteen-year-old orphan Lilya is studying at a Moldovan technical college. For the first time since graduating from the boarding school, she manages to make friends and even meet a guy. But Lily's new life changes when an acquaintance from her past shows up and threatens to tell everyone that she is an intersex person.
Comma by Sonia Leliukh, Ukraine
At a busy train station, a human with an ever-exploding head stumbles upon an old newspaper. This discovery opens a portal into a world of different stories, all intertwined by a shared theme: the war in Ukraine. Despite the war's impact, each story depicts people living normally, dancing, walking their dogs, and engaging in peaceful activities. Although their lives have been altered, they persist and strive to find meaning in a world where a missile attack can ruin your house at any moment.
Uzhorod, To The Shelter! (Ужгород, в укриття!) by Olexandra Horiienko, Ukraine
For two young people, the air raid warnings become an exciting attraction. They wait for the sirens every day to have an excuse to meet in the shelter, using the opportunity to express their feelings without any restraint.
We Are (At) Home by Shakhzoda Mirakova, Kyrgyzstan
The film presents the untold stories of Luli, the Central Asian Roma people, and shows their resilience and fight for their rightful place in society. Those struggles are demonstrated through a Luli family that serves as a collective representation of Luli communities spread all across regions of Central Asia.
The Consul of Nowhereland by Alex Milic, Montenegro
A short-form character documentary following the charismatic and strange ambassador of Yugoslavia: a nation that long longer exists.
Happy Independence Day (TÄUELSIZDIK KÜNIÑIZBEN) by Camila Sagyntkan, Kazakhstan
A fast-forward metaphor for Kazakhstan's path to look for a new identity through the image of a middle-aged man named Marat, who loses his meaning in life after the death of his spouse. His dissatisfaction with the new society grows, much like the fear of becoming inessential and outdated.
Tarbasa, or How We Sawed Meat (Et Erbes Ebeter Eterbes) by Nikita Davydov, Sakha Republic (Russia)
Early morning in the Yakut village, a shot is heard... The perpetrators of the crime hide in the forest, where they are accidentally found by local women. After the women tell everyone in the village, the enraged residents decide to organise a lynching.