Samizdat + Borscht x Belmont: Rave

Aberdeen Art Gallery is screening Rave in the Seminar Room on Saturday 7 November, from 1pm to 3pm. It's a 2024 documentary by Łukasz Ronduda and Dawid Nickel, presented by Borscht Film, and it comes with a pre-recorded introduction by Jacek Skolimowski. The screening is part of Samizdat, the Eastern European Film Festival run in collaboration with The Belmont and supported by Creative Scotland's Multiyear Fund and the Aberdeen City Council Cultural Investment Programme.

Rave is a creative documentary that looks at the history of Polish techno and rave culture, weaving the 1990s together with the experience of Generation Z. It traces how electronic music became tied up in Poland's post-communist transformation, drawing on the Łódź techno movement and the iconic Ekwador club in Manieczki. The film is guided by Marcello Zamenhoff, a performer and pioneer of Polish rave, and by two young ravers, Marysia and Janusz.

The two directors bring different backgrounds to the project. Ronduda is a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, known for films that explore the intersection of art and identity; Nickel graduated from the Kieslowski and Wajda Film Schools and focuses on portraying communities that are often stereotyped or overlooked. Together they've put together a film that works as much as a social history as a look at the music itself.

It's shown in Polish with English and descriptive subtitles, and the Seminar Room is wheelchair accessible. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with £4, £7, and £10 options to choose from. The screening runs from 1pm to 3pm on Saturday 7 November at the Aberdeen Art Gallery.