“A man wanders,” writes Martin Heidegger in his work “Country Path Conversations.” Our programme addresses the themes of wandering and lostness; the attempt to discover and define ourselves, to capture ourselves in space and time. Where do we wander? Which paths confuse us, and which lead us out of the woods and into the light? What do we ponder as we trudge through the night? Where is the home that we left behind?

The programme was put together intuitively. We didn’t have to think long about the theme: going through the questions we have been asking ourselves lately, we quickly came to that very “country path.” The leitmotif of the special programme is built around the theme of the path and the seeking. We wanted to capture this state of “between” in which we find ourselves: it is no longer clear when and why we were left hanging in the air, or where we can touch the ground. This anxious state of lostness is, at the same time, a field for research. Without reference points, one can move, relying only on their intuition and senses; go either way, exploring places off the maps. In this vulnerability, a special insight arises.

On a long journey without a destination, one is sure to need fellow travellers; we hope that the films in the programme become suchcompanions for you. The programme features ‘ghost films’: they speak about a past life and a future beyond reach, about wandering between worlds in an attempt to feel alive again. Even though they were created by people with different backgrounds and in different eras, they are connected by a thin thread. We would like the programme as well to serve as a connection, drawing new trajectories for communication and deliverance.

Written by: Ira Lomakina

Programme curated by: Editorial board of the Samizdat K magazine (Diana Abu Yosef, Sveta Lang, Ira Lomakina, Nikita Lopatin, Natasha Prudnikova, Varya Smirnova, Polina Trubitsyna, Dasha Chernova).