Politics of the Imagination: Animations of the Eastern Bloc (1958–1992) + musical intro (Samizdat)

About this event

This film contains flashing lights and loud noises which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy. Screening as part of the Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival 2026 . This screening will be preceded by a live-captioned short welcome to the festival and a musical introduction by violinist Masha Zhuravlova. Despite contending with the constraints of political repression, censorship and official cultural doctrine, it would be no exaggeration to say that Eastern European animation during the Soviet era flourished. From the 50s onwards, a number of state-run animation studios produced some of the most innovative animations witnessed in the 20th century – some of which are represented in this fourth instalment of Samizdat animations. From post-apocalyptic visions and classic folk tales to surrealist dreamscapes and allegories of political paranoia, this year offers an eclectic range of shorts showcasing the raw talent and creative ingenuity of animators from the Eastern Bloc. FILMS FEATURED: Happy End ( Srečen Konec ) (dir. Vatroslav Mimica, Yugoslavia (Croatia), 1958, 10 mins, Croatian titles w/ English subtitles) A temporally ambiguous meditation on the apocalypse: are we witnessing the restoration of human civilisation, or an attempt at reversing what is already inevitable? Labyrinth ( Labirynt ) (dir. Jan Lenica, Poland, 1963, 15 mins, Polish titles w/ English subtitles) Using cut-out animation, Labyrinth follows the wanderings of a fin-de-siècle gentleman seemingly trapped in a dreamlike, deserted European city, filled with strange, hybrid monsters, and watched over by an ominous half-man, half-machine figure. Si Vis Pacem... (dir. Zofia Oraczewska, Poland, 1975, 7 mins, Polish titles w/ English subtitles) In this anti-war satire, two soldiers guarding their respective state borders fool themselves into mobilisation and become locked indefinitely in defensive standby, allowing nature to gradually take over. Hey, You ( Hé,Te! ) (dir.