
samizdat 2023 programme
Festival at a glance
12-16 September (CCA Glasgow, in person)
12 September - 5 October (Klassiki, online)
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There was 13 in-person screenings at CCA Glasgow, featuring a total of 10 feature films, 11 shorts, and 9 short animations. Out of 10 features, 4 were retrospectives and 6 were UK premieres.
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Our partner, the streaming platform Klassiki, hosted Samizdat’s online programme comprising 5 features, 5 shorts, and several interviews and discussions.
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5 short films submitted to the festival competed for the Samizdat Audience Award based on audience ratings collected at in-person screenings. Assel Aushakimova’s Comrade Policeman won the Samizdat 2023 Best Short Film award.
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Samizdat had two special events in 2023: a showcase of a collection of Eastern European and Central Asian surrealist animation (14.09) and a screening of Soviet Armenian early film House on the Volcano (1928) (13.09) with an original new score mixed live by its composer Juliet Merchant.





























Key Information
Brochures
Download the festival brochure here: digital file, text-only Word document. Free paper brochures from the CCA could be collected several weeks before the festival.
accessibility
Learn about our accessibility measures, including financial support for attendees, pricing, Closed Captions, content and access notes, venue accessibility, and more, here.

Some Interviews on Personal Matters (Lana Gogoberidze, 1978) + Short (Lena River)
Sofiko is a Georgian journalist who travels around the country interviewing victims of patriarchy and corruption. After she refuses her husband's and editor's wishes for her to take a promotion that would limit her work, her husband cheats on her, yet Sofiko continues reporting.

House on the Volcano + Live Score Mix (Hamo Beknazarian, 1928)
A new restoration of a neglected silent classic by Hamo Benazarian, the founding father of Armenian cinema, this historical melodrama recounts the brutal suppression of an oil workers’ strike in pre-revolutionary Baku.

Aurora’s Sunrise (Inna Sahakyan, 2022) + Short (Warmth)
The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.
Online screenings on klassiki
*only available on Klassiki