The Pushkin Club invites you to join us on the evening of 13 December for the British premiere of The Dmitriev Affair (2023) – a new documentary by Jessica Gorter telling the story of historian Yuri Dmitriev who uncovered and documented mass graves in his home region of Karelia, containing the bodies of thousands of people secretly executed during Stalin’s 1936–1938 Great Purge. The screening will be followed by the Q&A with the director.

Pushkin House in collaboration with the 17th Native Spirit Film Festival presents a double bill dedicated to the Sakha, an indigenous people living in Siberia, in particular in the city of Yakutsk, which is considered the coldest city on the planet. Chris Marker made a trip there in the 1950s, which resulted in the travelog Letter from Siberia. In this film, his personal ethnographic observations combine with poetry and political analysis, and the heterogeneous image includes animation, adverts and archival materials in addition to documentary footage. At the same time, Marker made the film primarily about the construction and rapid development of Soviet Siberia from a Frenchman's point of view, and he leaves aside the problems of colonisation of this territory and does not give credit to the indigenous peoples living there. Interestingly, Letter from Siberia became one of the first films in which Svetlana Romanova saw her native region. 65 years later, she created a kind of response letter to Marker with the help of fellow filmmaker Chelsea Tuggle, speaking for and on behalf of the local community. Тарыҥ (Season of Dying Water) shows Yakutsk and its surroundings as a complex and unique space in which traditional customs coexist with youth subcultures against a backdrop of colonial and capitalist violence. 

The Kiev Trial, also known as the “Kiev Nuremberg”, took place in January of 1946 in the Soviet Union, and was one of the first post-war trials convicting German Nazis and their collaborators. Fifteen criminals, guilty of atrocities which were later identified by the Nuremberg trials as “crimes against humanity”, faced justice. Using unique, previously unseen archival footage, Sergei Loznitsa reconstructs key moments of the proceedings, including statements of the defendants and testimonies of the witnesses, among them survivors of Auschwitz and Babi Yar. The film lays bare the “banality of evil” and is devastatingly relevant today, as Ukrainian people are once again being subjected to the violence of barbarian invaders.

The film reconstructs the historical context of the massacre which took place on 29–30 September 1941, when Sonderkommando 4a of the Einsatzgruppe C, assisted by two battalions of the Police Regiment South and Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, shot dead 33,771 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine. With his careful attention to detail, Sergei Loznitsa uncovers the complex circumstances that led to this horrific event, examining the repressive policy of both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The film is constructed entirely from archival footage, with sound added in some cases, bearing witness to the atrocities that took place during the occupation and the subsequent decade.

Inspired by W.G. Sebald’s book of the same title and based on WWII archival footage, The Natural History of Destruction puts forward the questions: is it morally acceptable to use the civilian population as a means of war? Is it possible to justify mass destruction for the sake of higher “moral” ideals? These questions remain as relevant today as they were 80 years ago, and their urgency is tragically manifested in current political events.

Every year, on 9 May, people gather in Treptower Park in Berlin at a large memorial to Soviet soldiers who died in World War II. They come dressed in their best outfits or in Soviet military uniform. They carry flags, banners and posters. They lay flowers at the monument; they sing, dance and drink. They celebrate the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Directly reporting from Treptower Park 72 years after the victory, Sergei Loznitsa focuses on the crowds without providing any commentary, but fragments of conversations heard off-screen reveal what draws these people to take part in this grotesque celebration.

In the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, a hybrid war has been going on since 2014, and has since evolved into a full-scale invasion. The war has involved from the very beginning into open armed conflict, and killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by separatist gangs. In the Donbas, war is called peace, propaganda is uttered as truth and hatred is declared to be love. A journey through the Donbas unfolds as a chain of curious adventures, where the grotesque and drama are as intertwined as life and death. This is not a tale of one region, one country or one political system. It is about a world lost in post-truth and fake identities. Today, it is about each and every one of us.

Winner of the top prize at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the film tells the absorbing story of Lithuania’s fight for independence between 1988 and 1993. This epic documentary focuses on music professor Vytautas Landsbergis, who became the first Head of State of Lithuania after it gained independence from the Soviet Union. Along with the portrait of this charismatic man, Sergei Loznitsa offers an author’s look at the archival footage of the peaceful protests against the Soviet regime that are often called the “Singing Revolution”. This reflection on the democratic liberation movement against Soviet occupation becomes an important historical lesson about Soviet imperialism.

In the days immediately following the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, countless citizens flooded Red Square to mourn their leader’s loss and witness his burial. Although the parade of pomp and circumstance was captured in detail by hundreds of cameramen, their footage has remained largely unseen. Working with dozens of hours of this revelatory archival material, now stunningly restored specifically for this film, Sergei Loznitsa has crafted an immersive re-creation of a key moment in Soviet history. State Funeral presents an all-too-timely commentary on the terrifying absurdities inherent to totalitarianism and the cult of personality.

Following the UK premiere of Eugene Birman's documentary opera Russia: Today at London's King's Place in February 2023, a new edition of the project is coming to Pushkin House. The evening features the film version of Russia: Today by Alexandra Karelina (2021), a world-premiere of two pieces by composer Martyn Harry performed live by EXAUDI, and a discussion with the Russia: Today creative team.

Join us for the opening of Ruth Maclennan’s A Forest Tale, premiering the artist’s latest film in the UK. Consisting of several different narratives, the film portrays the complex world of the sub-arctic boreal forests of Russia, which serves as both a habitat and a source of life for a large and diverse community of people.

My Duty to Not Stay Silent is a documentary by imprisoned Russian politician and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza, with an introduction by Evgenia Kara-Murza. It tells the story of Father Georgy Edelstein, a remarkable man in a remarkably difficult era. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Evgenia Kaza-Murza.

Come and See is one of the most powerful and brutal Soviet films about the war that tells the story of the Nazi occupation of Belarus in 1943. The main protagonist is a 16-year-old boy, Flyora, who participates in the guerrilla movement and witnesses the horrors of an SS death squad in action. Within two days, he transforms from a cheerful teenager into a grey-haired old man. This film is the strongest anti-war statement, affecting the viewer almost on a physiological level. By means of its sharp and shocking forms it avoids romanticising the bloodshed, and questions the nature of violence in the world. In-person event.

Imperialism continues to be part of Russia’s political and social reality, as the war in Ukraine clearly demonstrates. Taking a close look at the colonial regimes of the former Russian and Soviet empires, as well as examining the process of their fall, thus feels more important than ever.

In this context, Pushkin House presents the British premiere of Sergei Loznitsa's Mr. Landsbergis. Winner of the top prize at IDFA, the film tells the absorbing story of Lithuania’s fight for independence between 1988 and 1993. This epic documentary focuses on music professor Vytautas Landsbergis, who became the first Head of Parliament of Lithuania after it left the Soviet Union, and the peaceful protests that came to be known as the “singing revolution”.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the gaining of independence by its former republics were accompanied by a number of territorial disputes, military conflicts and collective traumas. 30 years later, the historical reality of these events has only become more complex. In her film What We Shared, artist Kamila Kuc addresses these themes by exploring the nature of memory and archives in relation to Abkhazia, an autonomous region on the Black Sea. The 1992-93 military conflict in this territory between the Abkhazian and Georgian armed forces led to the loss and displacement of many who lived there. What We Shared serves as a powerful force that connects different generations and geographical zones to resist dominant power structures. In-person event.

This screening is a charity event in support of Ukrainian cultural workers and their families during the Russian military aggression in Ukraine.

The filmmakers participating in this programme explore the creative power of labour which allows people to transform the world. Whether it is Ukrainian miners or members of an independent art community in Kyiv, the people depicted in these films have the freedom to imagine their future and strive to build it.

Pushkin Club presents a screening of Something about Georgia (2009) and a Q&A with Its director, Nino Kirtadze.

“This film has a universal value for all wars with their fundamentally intolerable violence” - Jean Perret

Nino Kirtadze’s documentary Something About Georgia was made in 2009, soon after Russia’s war against Georgia in August 2008. The director has the clarity of vision to consider dramatic events in their complexity: the amazing beauty of her native land being destroyed by war; the incomprehension of ordinary men and women behind their ruined windows and in front of their destroyed houses; President Saakashvili, who tried to turn his country towards democracy, seen here both as a powerful leader and in moments of anxiety and dismay.

In Georgian with English subtitles.

Pushkin House continues our series of charity screenings aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian filmmakers who are now suffering from the military aggression of the Russian state. This programme is focused on female artists who work in a variety of genres, raising issues of gender, sexuality, violence and the impact of war on people's lives.

DISCLAIMER. The films in this programme are not recommended for audiences younger than 18 years old. TW: nudity, blood, combat footage.

Pushkin House continues our series of charity screenings aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian filmmakers who are now suffering from the military aggression of the Russian state. This programme is focused on female artists who work in a variety of genres, raising issues of gender, sexuality, violence and the impact of war on people's lives.

DISCLAIMER. The films in this programme are not recommended for audiences younger than 18 years old. TW: nudity, blood, combat footage.

Pushkin House presents the next in our series of charity events helping Ukrainian artists and humanitarian organisations. The screening consists of three films, all united by the idea of movement. This theme manifests itself in a unique way in each work, while also serving as an important feature of Ukrainian society in the process of constant transformation and renewal.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Ukrainian volunteer initiatives helping with the distribution of food and accommodation to displaced people.

This is an online event. The screening will go live at 6pm on Friday 1 April and will be available until 6pm Saturday 2 April. Ticket holders will receive the link to the screening by email in the morning of 1 April. If you wish to attend the screening in-person, please see the in-person screening on Thursday 31 March.

Pushkin House presents the next in our series of charity events helping Ukrainian artists and humanitarian organisations. The screening consists of three films, all united by the idea of movement. This theme manifests itself in a unique way in each work, while also serving as an important feature of Ukrainian society in the process of constant transformation and renewal.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Ukrainian volunteer initiatives helping with the distribution of food and accommodation to displaced people.

Pushkin House continues a series of charity screenings aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian artists and filmmakers who are now suffering from the military aggression of the Russian state. This time we will show three films by Mykola Ridnyi dedicated to his native city of Kharkiv, its spaces and inhabitants. The first two videos are part of the installation Shelter that was made in 2012-2013. It explores public and private underground spaces that acquired new meaning after the start of the armed conflict in the Donbas region in 2014. The third video NO! NO! NO! addresses the everyday life of young residents of Kharkiv, of which the war has become an integral part.

The screening will be followed by the recording of the online Q&A with Mykola Ridnyi from Thursday’s screening. Mykola is currently in Ukraine.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Ukrainian volunteer initiatives helping with the distribution of food and accommodation to displaced people.

The screening will be available from 6pm Friday 18 March until 6pm Saturday 19 March. The link to the films will be sent out to all ticket holders on Friday morning.

Pushkin House continues a series of charity screenings aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian artists and filmmakers who are now suffering from the military aggression of the Russian state. This time we will show three films by Mykola Ridnyi dedicated to his native city of Kharkiv, its spaces and inhabitants. The first two videos are part of the installation Shelter that was made in 2012-2013. It explores public and private underground spaces that acquired new meaning after the start of the armed conflict in the Donbas region in 2014. The third video NO! NO! NO! addresses the everyday life of young residents of Kharkiv, of which the war has become an integral part.

After the screening, there will be an online Q&A with Mykola Ridnyi who is currently in Ukraine.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Ukrainian volunteer initiatives helping with the distribution of food and accommodation to displaced people.

This screening is a charity event in support of Ukrainian artists, filmmakers, and their families during the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Several films by members of the Freefilmers collective will be shown, and all proceeds from ticket sales will be transferred to them directly.

For this online screening, you will be able to watch the films from 6pm on Friday 11 March until 6pm Saturday 12 March.

As part of the ongoing cultural season exploring various aspects of queer sensuality in Russia and beyond, Pushkin House presents a one-off screening of No Place For Fools, a radical work by artist and filmmaker Oleg Mavromatti that premiered in 2015 at the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Long Live, Queer Belarus! brings together the history and contemporaneity of queer communities in independent Belarus.

The opening lecture by Bahdan Khmialnitski is based on a case study of the capital of Belarus Minsk, introducing the stories, language, places and culture associated with its LGBTQ+ inhabitants. It focuses on the unique practices and vocabulary that the local queer people have developed despite and contrary to the current authoritarian regime.

Russian Film Week and Pushkin House are proud to present a selection of short films, ranging from a young sailor writing unanswered letters for his estranged father, to a pair of interpreters navigating tense negotiations between world leaders, a young girl’s life-changing promise, and an escalating confrontation between a director and a censorship-committee-appointed group of producers. All films are in Russian with English subtitles.

Russian Film Week and Pushkin House are proud to present the documentary film A Boy. Twenty-three-year-old Vitaly Akimov portrays his family in the shrinking Russian provincial town of Arsenyev. In Russian with English subtitles.

Russian Film Week and Pushkin House are proud to present the documentary film Sockeye. Red Fish. Sockeye, a species of wild salmon, is spawned in the Kamchatkan waters and then spends its entire life in the Pacific Ocean. Only once does it return to fresh waters - to breed, start the circle of life, and die. An inexhaustible resource which feeds billions of people on the planet and is replenished every year! But soon, we may find ourselves facing the unimaginable: humans will exhaust the inexhaustible! In Russian with English subtitles.