Ashik Kerib/აშიკ-ქერიბი (Georgia, Armenia, 1988)

Samizdat East European Film Festival presents a screening of Armenian director Sergei Parajanov’s final work, Ashik Kerib (აშიკ-ქერიბი), as part of its inaugural edition.

Co-directed with Georgian actor-director Dodo Abashidze, this film provides the final iteration of Parajanov's singular baroque visuality, developed in the so-called Caucasus Trilogy – together with Sayat Nova (The Colour of Pomegranates) and The Legend of the Suram Fortress. This time, Parajanov takes a popular Azerbaijani and Turkestani tale about a poor minstrel’s love for an aristocrat’s daughter as the basis for the mesmerising world he conjures on screen. Like in Parajanov's earlier films, Ashik Kerib weaponizes its consciously Orientalist style to make an appeal against soviet tyranny and ethno-religious conflict.

Samizdat is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI. It is jointly funded by the European Cultural Foundation (Culture of Solidarity Fund — Ukraine Special Edition).

Accessibility

Financial support to attend the festival is available to eligible applicants via Samizdat's Access Fund.

Content Notes: Depictions of death, grief, a funeral ceremony, graphic violence (not photorealistic).

Access Notes: Bright and colourful images throughout, brief flashing lights, visual storytelling throughout, music throughout, some storytelling using intertitles in Georgian.