St Andrews to host Scottish film premiere of film mirroring conflict

St Andrews staff and students and members of the wider community, are being given a unique opportunity to attend a special screening of ‘Searching for Satyrus’, the first major film on the conflict between the neighbouring nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Set in the mountainous borderlands between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the story follows Rena Effendi, a photographer and filmmaker in pursuit of Satyrus effendi, a rare and critically endangered butterfly named in honour of her father, an enigmatic Soviet entomologist who was absent from her life.

Satyrus died in 1991, when Rena was just 14, amid war and the collapse of the USSR. Rena retraces his old butterfly-hunting routes through what is now a devastated landscape, deep into a remote Caucasus exclave isolated by decades of conflict. The butterfly is known to appear there only once a year, fluttering high over militarised border that people are forbidden to cross. On this journey of discovery, Rena comes closer to her father, confronting the distance between them and coming to terms with his troubled legacy.

Professor Rick Fawn, in St Andrews School of International Relations, has been instrumental in bringing the film to St Andrews.

Some of Rick’s research has focused on the conflicts among Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia with Russia, and involved real-world engagement with leaders including Heads of State , foreign ministries and international institutions dealing with complex geopolitical issues that affect millions of people.

He said: “I’m grateful that my connections in the Caucasus and the help of the London-based NGO Conciliation Resources have enabled this stunning documentary to be shared with a St Andrews audience.”

Commenting on current world events and his involvement in ground-breaking work to bring warring parties together, he added: “The Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement of August 2025 – signed in the White House – is the only one of US President Trump’s eight “peaces”  that is actually holding.”

Rena said: “As I retrace my father’s footsteps, seeking to understand both him and his lifelong passion for butterflies, I am helped by people on both sides of the border, people who still officially consider each other enemies. What motivates my journey is not only a search for my father along with a species on the brink of extinction, but also a longing for peace and reconciliation.

“Through this quest, I hope to show that humanity can prevail even in places ravaged by war. The film traverses a physical landscape, but also the emotional and political ones. My efforts to bring Armenians and Azerbaijanis together in the search for the butterfly mirror the fragile possibility of unity in a region long divided by violence and traumas of war.”

Since its world premiere at the Sevil Festival in Azerbaijan, the film, funded by the National Geographic Society, was shown at the Austin Film festival in Texas, where it won Best Documentary Feature Award, and at the One World Festival in Prague.

The screening, which takes place in School III, United College on the evening of Wednesday 29 April, will be the first time the film has been shown in Scotland.

It will be followed by a Q&A with Rena Effendi, who also directed it, and Professor Rick Fawn.

Tickets are free for students and staff but should be booked in advance.

A National Geographic podcast on the film is also available here