Some Interviews on Personal Matters (Lana Gogoberidze, Georgia, 1978) + Short film (Lena River)

The protagonist Sofiko (played by legendary Georgian actress Sofiko Chiaureli) 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, delivering a remarkable performance full of quiet rage, irreverence, and humor.

Short: Lena River (Svetlana Romanova, Chelsea Tuggle, Sakha Republic, 2015)

This experimental short film juxtaposes footage of Sakha/Even director Svetlana Romanova in her native North Asia with images of the colonized landscapes she inhabits, creating a gritty aesthetic that exposes the dispossession of indigenous peoples and their environments across the world. Shot on a low budget across continents, the film cuts between the Lena River in Russia and the Rio Grande in America, locating a shared indigenous struggle against the theft of ancestral lands and livelihoods.

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.

English subtitles, partial SDH captions (only for Lena River)

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

Content notes: discussions and depictions of misogyny and, occasionally, arbitrary state violence.

Access notes: mix of bright and dark images, some fast cuts and loud sounds (singing, instrumental music).

Short (Lena River):

Content notes: references to hunting, discussions of racism, colonialism, gender and state oppression.

Access notes: visual storytelling, some low-definition footage, some loud sounds (singing, instrumental music, sounds of nature).