The films will be screened with English-language subtitles from October 12th to December 17th in the new auditorium of the Bloomsbury Theatre.
Each screening will be introduced by an academic specialist who will place the film being shown in its cultural, historical, and cinematic context.
The festival is being supported by the British Film Institute, as well as various embassies, cultural institutes and cultural organizations which promote the arts and cultures of the countries whose national cinemas are being showcased.
Tickets are free and issued on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Programme of Events
Click on the links below to reserve your free tickets
Monday 12 October at 6.30pm
Evgenii Bauer, Posle smerti (After Death, 1915), RUSSIA; and Umiraiushchii lebed′ (The Dying Swan, 1917), RUSSIA
Guest speaker: Dr Rachel Morley, Lecturer in Russian Film and Culture, UCL SSEES
Tuesday 13 October at 6.30pm
Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Zvenyhora (Zvenigora, 1927), UKRAINE
Guest speaker: Dr Rory Finnin, Senior Lecturer in Ukrainian Studies, University of Cambridge
Tuesday 20 October at 6.30pm
Gustav Machatý, Extase (Ecstasy, 1933), CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Guest speaker: Peter Hames, Visiting Professor in Film and Media Studies, Staffordshire University
Wednesday 21 October.
Sahia Vintage I: Documentar, ideologie, viaţă (Documentary Film at the Alexandru Sahia Studio, 1956-1990), ROMANIA
Two separately bookable sessions starting at 4pm & 6.30pm.
Wednesday 21 October at 4pm
Alexandru Sîrbu, Reportaj de la Steagul Roşu (Report from the Red Flag, 1956)
Alexandru Boiangiu, Cazul D (Case D, 1966)
Titus Mesaroş, Scrisoare din Oraşul Nou (Letter from the New Town, 1978)
Guest speaker: Adina Bradeanu, School of Media Arts and Design, University of Westminster
Wednesday 21 October at 6.30pm
Paula and Doru Segall, Pentru strănepoţi, încă ceva despre Bucureşti… (For our Heirs: More Stories about Bucharest…, 1980)
Adrian Sârbu, Aflaţi despre mine… (I for one am Alive and Well, 1982)
Laurenţiu Damian, Pe unde-am fost şi-am colindat (The Roads I Have Wandered, 1982)
Ovidiu Bose Paştina, Oameni care povestesc (People Telling Stories, 1983)
Copel Moscu, Va veni o zi, (There Will Come a Day, 1985/1990)
Guest speaker: Adina Bradeanu, School of Media Arts and Design, University of Westminster
Thursday 22 October at 6.30pm
Wanda Jakubowska, Ostatni etap (The Last Stage, 1947), POLAND
Guest speaker: Dr Katarzyna Zechenter, Lecturer in Polish Literature and Culture, UCL SSEES
Monday 26 October at 6.30pm
Vladimir Pogačić, Anikina vremena (Legends of Anika, 1954), YUGOSLAVIA
Guest speaker: Dr Vlastimir Sudar, Associate Lecturer in Film History and Theory, University of the Arts London
Monday 2 November at 6.30pm
Vӗra Chytilová, Sedmikrásky (Daisies, 1966), CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Guest speaker: Peter Hames, Visiting Professor in Film and Media Studies, Staffordshire University
Tuesday 3 November at 6.30pm
Risto Jarva, Työmiehen päiväkirja (Diary of a Worker, 1967), FINLAND
Guest speaker: Dr Essi Viitanen, author of ‘Refracting Space: Navigating the Suburban Milieu in Finnish Film, 1960-1980’ (PhD, UCL SSEES, 2014)
Wednesday 4 November at 6.30pm
Miklós Jancsó, Csillagosok, katonák (The Red and the White, 1967), HUNGARY
Guest speaker: Dr Daniel Abondolo, Reader in Hungarian, UCL SSEES
Thursday 5 November at 6.30pm
Rollan Serhiienko, Bili khmary (White Clouds, 1968), UKRAINE
Guest speaker: Dr JJ Gurga, author of ‘Echoes of the Past: Ukrainian Poetic Cinema and the Experiential Ethnographic Mode’ (PhD, UCL SSEES, 2012)
Wednesday 11 November at 6.30pm
Arvo Kruusement, Kevade (Spring, 1969), ESTONIA
Guest speaker: Dr Eva Näripea, Director, Estonian Film Archives, Tallinn
Thursday 12 November at 6.30pm
Aleksandrs Leimanis, Vella kalpi (The Devil’s Servants, 1970), LATVIA
Guest speaker: Zane Balčus, Director, Riga Film Museum
Monday 16 November at 7.30pm
Krzysztof Zanussi, Struktura kryształu (Structure of Crystals, 1970), POLAND
Guest speaker: Ewa Mazierska, Professor of Contemporary Cinema, School of Journalism and Digital Communication, University of Central Lancashire
Tuesday 17 November at 6.30pm
Gleb Panfilov, Proshu slova (A Word from the Floor, 1975), RUSSIA
Guest speaker: Dr Philip Cavendish, Reader in Russian and Soviet Film Studies, UCL SSEES
Wednesday 25 November at 6.30pm
Rangel Vulchanov, Lachenite obuvki na neznayniya voin (The Unknown Soldier’s Patent Leather Shoes, 1979), BULGARIA
Guest speaker: Galin Tihanov, George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary, University of London
Monday 30 November at 6.30pm
Emir Kusturica, Otas na službenom putu (When Father Was Away on Business, 1985), YUGOSLAVIA
Guest speaker: Dr Vlastimir Sudar, Associate Lecturer in Film History and Theory, University of the Arts London
Tuesday 1 December at 6.30pm
Béla Tarr, Kárhozat (Damnation, 1988), HUNGARY
Guest speaker: Peter Sherwood, László Birinyi, Sr., Distinguished Professor of Hungarian Language and Culture, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Wednesday 2 December at 6.30pm
Milcho Manchevski, Pred doždot (Before the Rain, 1994), MACEDONIA
Guest speaker: Dr Vlastimir Sudar, Associate Lecturer in Film History and Theory, University of the Arts London
Thursday 3 December at 6.30pm
Aleksei German, Khrustalev, mashinu! (Khrustalev, My Car!, 1998), RUSSIA
Guest speaker: Alexander Graham, holder of Wolfson doctoral research scholarship, UCL SSEES
Monday 7 December at 7.30pm
Aki Kaurismäki, Mies vailla menneisyyttä (The Man without a Past, 2002), FINLAND
Guest speaker: Ewa Mazierska, Professor of Contemporary Cinema, School of Journalism and Digital Communication, University of Central Lancashire
Tuesday 8 December at 6.30pm
Cristian Mungiu, 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile (4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days, 2007), ROMANIA
Guest speaker: Dominique Nasta, Professor of Film Studies, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Wednesday 9 December at 6.30pm
Sharunas Bartas, Indigène d’Eurasie (Eastern Drift, 2010), LITHUANIA
Guest speaker: Dr Audrone Žukauskaite, Senior Research Fellow, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Vilnius
Thursday 17 December at 6.30pm
Dimitar Mitovski, Misija London (Mission London, 2010), BULGARIA
Guest speaker: Dina Iordanova, Professor of Global Cinema and Creative Cultures, University of St Andrews
