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In remote Eastern Siberia, the proposed construction of a technologically advanced airport city divides the region’s inhabitants. On one side, the local workers and Red Army veterans who support the march of progress and the glory such a project could bring to the Soviet state; on the other side, the fanatical Old Believers religious sect who are colluding with the Imperial Japanese Army – fresh off their invasion of Manchuria and scouting for new territory.

Ukrainian Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko’s Aerograd (‘Air City’) is a fascinating blend of propaganda film and poetic Western. It contemplates notions of family, societal change and Soviet identity while presenting the promises of aerial advancement in futuristic – almost utopian – terms. Dovzhenko is characteristically enthralled with the natural setting, capturing the grandeur of the Siberian wilderness with stunning cinematography across the film’s absorbingly elliptical episodes.

Aerograd will screen from an imported 35mm print, with live English subtitles.