War Songs (Sashko Protyah, 2025)

UK premiere; presented with an online Q&A with director Sashko Protyah

Wheelchair accessible* | English and descriptive subtitles | Pay-what-you-can tickets (£2–12)

If the ticket or other costs, such as childcare or transport, make this screening unaffordable, please see details of our .

War Songs is a documentary musical which tells the story of war and pacifism through songs and melodies recorded in Mariupol from the end of 20th century to the beginning of 2022, when the city was erased and captured by Russia.

Director’s Statement:

I have always been suspicious of songs, whether performed at family gatherings or played on streaming services. The repeatedness of refrains and choruses made me feel like I was stuck in a trap. All songs aim to be catchy, and I've always been afraid of that. Songs can make you repeat things forever, they make you hum melodies you don’t even like. And I belonged to a family where everyone had some kind of inclination to be a singer. I was trying to be different, and I listened to music that could only be associated with songs very remotely: noise, ambient, drone.

I happened to record quite a lot of songs during the years just before the Russian full-scale invasion. I also came across some videos with music played in the city by the occupiers. Suddenly all those potential earworms started to make up a meaningful collage for me. Maybe we sing songs because we lack the words or freedom to build a narrative? Maybe we conceal our confusion and vulnerability behind melodies and vocalising? Maybe there are certain things in history, painful and devastating, that can be understood and conveyed only through singing? And the rhythmic and melodic patterns of our songs are the only accurate testimony of what we've lived through? Presuming that these questions could lead me anywhere, I edited this film out of songs and notes – out of the materials that are normally missing in history books.

Content notes: war, occupation, destroyed cityscapes, graphic image of human remains, trauma and grief

Access notes: sounds of sirens and missiles, varying quality and frame sizes

* Please note, The Lower Hall at the Pyramid at Anderston is wheelchair accessible through a ramp at a side entrance. There are 9 steps between the level where it is located and the rest of the venue, meaning that to make way to the accessible toilet or other parts of the building, wheelchair users will need to re-enter via the main entrance. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Host or Publisher Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival