Samizdat Short Film Competition, Block 1

Scottish premieres

Wheelchair accessible* | In Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Persian; with English subtitles
Pay-what-you-can tickets (£4 / £7 / £10)

If the ticket or other costs, such as childcare or transport, make this screening unaffordable, please see details of our Audience Access Fund.

Following last year's Audience Award for Sylwia Szkiłądź's Autokar (Poland/Belgium), this time round we're bringing you an eclectic collection of 15 new short films spanning Ukraine to Kyrgyzstan, alongside many works made in emigration. And once again, you – the audience – will vote for the one that moved you most.

An old man walks away through the snow in one shoe. A hungry gas meter clicks its teeth. A late-night kitchen conversation turns into historical testimony. Our first block opens with piercingly honest, playful reflections on cinema, war, and displacement; moves through the finiteness of life via drama and comedy; and closes with an animation that has already acquired legendary status.

Content notes: death, grief, war

Access notes: loud noises, shaky footage

Curated by Natalia Guzevataya, Kirill Kartashov, and Ania Wieczorkowska

* Please note, The Lower Hall at the Pyramid at Anderston is wheelchair accessible through a ramp at a side entrance. There are 9 steps between the level where it is located and the rest of the venue, meaning that to make way to the accessible toilet or other parts of the building, wheelchair users will need to re-enter via the main entrance. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Programme (in order of screening)

Let's Leave it Untitled / Niech Zostanie Bez Tytułu by Mieszko Chomka, Poland, 2025

The Birds Are Silent / Мовчать птахи by Leo Dzhyshyashvili, Ukraine/Germany, 2025

A Lost Story of Home by Sharora Ismoilshoeva, Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan, 2026

Myanmar / میانمار by Hananeh Daliri, Iran, 2025

Coma / Koma by Tomasz Gąsiorowski, Poland, 2026

Kyiv Cake / Київський торт by Mykyta Lyskov, Ukraine, 2025