TONGUES OF RESISTANCE

Curated by Azem Bekturova 

With Denis Esakov, Daria Kim, Igor Sivtsev, Azem Bekturova 

K-SARAM I: Tale of the pig head
Alisa Berger, Germany, Russia, South Korea 2021, 28 min. Russian, Korean, Koryo-mar, English with English subtitles

Songs of Doulan
Sakhamin Trofimov, France 2024, 20 min. English, Russian, Yakut with English subtitles

The first part of the evening is devoted to migrant-diasporic experiences in the post-Soviet space and consists of two short films followed by a panel discussion. Alisa Berger's K-SARAM: Tale of the Pig Head offers an intimate insight into the lives of the Koryo-saram in Rostov-on-Don — a community that fled the Japanese occupation of Korea generations ago. Many of them fell victim to Stalin's purges; some, including relatives of the director, still live in the former Soviet territory today. Sakhamin Trofimov's Songs of Doulan, on the other hand, deals with the emigration of a young Yakut from Russia to Georgia: like many young Sakha, he fled into exile before mobilization and longs for his homeland, to which his return remains uncertain.

In the subsequent panel discussion, Denis Esakov, Daria Kim, and Igor Sivtsev talk with Azem Bekturova about the significance of language in relation to migration, belonging and memory in the context of post-Soviet societies, and about the complexity that these issues have gained since the beginning of the war. (Azem Bekturova)

Denis Esakov is a writer, curator and educator. He is a member of de_colonialanguage — a transnational art and research collective bringing together practitioners from Central and North Asia and Eastern Europe. The work of de_colonialanguage bridges critical language studies with decolonial practice and activism.

Daria Kim is a multidisciplinary artist born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her practice explores material experiments, embodied memory and diasporic histories. She is part of the DAVRA collective and currently completing her studies in fine arts at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Igor Sivtsev (he/him) is a Sakha activist and community organiser based in Berlin, advocating for the preservation of Sakha culture and language within the diaspora.

Azem Bekturova is a PhD candidate at LMU Munich and an independent curator with a focus on contemporary art and film from Central Asia. She previously collaborated with HKW for Destination: Tashkent (2024) and developed short film programmes for GEGENkino Leipzig and the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin (2025). She is currently a Sinema plural fellow.

In cooperation with de_colonialanguage