Samizdat Short Film Competition, Block 2

Scottish premieres

Wheelchair accessible*
In Qazaq, Belarusian, English, Georgian, German, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Persian, Kyrgyz, Czech; 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.

A passionate monologue of a dying lake, calling out colonial crimes against nature, echoes through dreamlike landscapes. Feverish visions of Berlin's diasporic cracks and crossroads are cut through by an image of a quiet beach full of bodies of those who couldn't reach. Resolving in a comic-relief story of an unlikely grassroots collaboration, Block 2 is an attempt to craft hope from the depths of despair.

Content notes: death, grief, war, animated dead bodies, emotional distress, discussions of colonialism, ecocide, and misogyny

Access notes: loud noises, flashing lights

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)

Balqaş Jyry by Artcom Platform: Aigerim Kapar, Aigerim Ospan, Antonina van Lier, Karlygash Akhmetbek, Qazaqstan, 2025

Expecting Paradise / Besitikint Rojaus by Gabrielė Plukaitė, Finland/Germany, 2026

Eastern White / 'Alb' de Est by Andreea Căprariu, Romania/UK, 2025

Collection Title: Turtle / عنوان مجموعه : لاکپشت by Ehsan Majouni, Iran, 2025

Rabani by Kostiantyn Rohov, Ukraine/Germany, 2026

Three Windows on South West / Три вікна на південний захід by Mariia Ponomarova, Ukraine/Netherlands, 2023

Because, I'm a Girl by Sayazhan Ispolganova, Alisa Tyan, Rosita Keneshova, Fatima Chorobekova, Alina Alybekova, Dariya Murzulukova, Aiana Baimuratova, Kyrgyzstan, 2025

Electricks / Elektriky by Kryštof Kindl, Czechia, 2025