Censorship has not included Hashchavatskі in collected articles “Belarusian cinema. The persons”
Not a single film of Yury Hashchavatskі has been included in the new catalogue of Belarusian films. The Belarusian Union of Cinematographers published a catalogue of Belarusian cinematographers at the beginning of the year. A producer Yury Hashchavatski was not surprised about not being able to find his name there. “I am not surprised at Zamyatalins’ order. It is normal. These are our genre’s terms. These are the rules of the game. He hates me, and he hates the films I shot. He understands that they compromise the current authorities”.
Hashchavatski was most offended by the fact that the book had been written by good people. Namely, the people the author used to consider good.
Yury Hashchavatskі: “The authors of the book seem to be normal people. I am surprised by the fact they agreed to this low act. I was surprised there were no decent people among my colleagues. I’m just smiling at their backs. I don’t think they will be able to face me. I disdain them”.
ERB talked to one of the authors of the collection of articles Lyudmila Perahudava. She confessed that she had written her articles in 2003 and had almost forgotten what was in them:
Lyudmіla Perahudava: “The collection was prepared ages ago. I wrote those articles in 2003. I practically do not remember what was in them. We tried to mention everyone. Journalists should know who the people are. We even mentioned operators, sound technicians and critics. We tried to mention everyone. But speaking about the result…”
However, the author of the concept Volha Nyachai seems to remember very well what producers were included in the book. Volha Nyachai flatly refused to answer our question why Hashchavatski had not been mentioned in the catalogue. She even said she had been waiting for the question:
Nyachai: I will not answer this question. I knew you phoned me for it. I will not answer this question.
ЕРБ: Why not?
Nyachai: I just do not think it is necessary. I think it should not be discussed on the phone.
Besides Hashchavatski’s films, the same thing happened to some “ill-fated” films of such producers as Victar Dashuk, Ela Milova, Arkadz Ruderman and Iryna Pismennaya.
Articles about Iryna Pismennaya and Ela Milova were put in the section of feature films (although they should have been placed among other documentaries or in the video centre). Ela Milova thinks that the feature films section was less controlled.
That is what a producer Iryna Pismennaya whose film “I’m invited to a ball” got a prize at Berlin Cinema Festival told ERB:
“There are some of my films but not all of them. There are only those that were shot officially. The ones that do not threaten anyone. The film “I’m invited to a ball” is about women who faced the perestroika. Two of them died and the other two left the country. The film is not mentioned there. The film about Bykau isn’t either. A few other films are also missing: “To live till love”… All the films have not been included in it”.
The complier of the catalogue Volha Nyachai explained to ERB that the most famous and honoured producers had been included in the catalogue:
“There are about a thousand names. Those are people having a lot of prizes, who are prestigious and famous, those who shot a lot of films. And those to contributed more to the cinema art”.
It is necessary to note that Hashchavatski’s film “The Square” got a lot of prizes. However, it was not enough to deserve the honour to be included in the collection of articles “Belarusian Cinema. The persons”.
Hashchavatski was most offended by the fact that the book had been written by good people. Namely, the people the author used to consider good.
Yury Hashchavatskі: “The authors of the book seem to be normal people. I am surprised by the fact they agreed to this low act. I was surprised there were no decent people among my colleagues. I’m just smiling at their backs. I don’t think they will be able to face me. I disdain them”.
ERB talked to one of the authors of the collection of articles Lyudmila Perahudava. She confessed that she had written her articles in 2003 and had almost forgotten what was in them:
Lyudmіla Perahudava: “The collection was prepared ages ago. I wrote those articles in 2003. I practically do not remember what was in them. We tried to mention everyone. Journalists should know who the people are. We even mentioned operators, sound technicians and critics. We tried to mention everyone. But speaking about the result…”
However, the author of the concept Volha Nyachai seems to remember very well what producers were included in the book. Volha Nyachai flatly refused to answer our question why Hashchavatski had not been mentioned in the catalogue. She even said she had been waiting for the question:
Nyachai: I will not answer this question. I knew you phoned me for it. I will not answer this question.
ЕРБ: Why not?
Nyachai: I just do not think it is necessary. I think it should not be discussed on the phone.
Besides Hashchavatski’s films, the same thing happened to some “ill-fated” films of such producers as Victar Dashuk, Ela Milova, Arkadz Ruderman and Iryna Pismennaya.
Articles about Iryna Pismennaya and Ela Milova were put in the section of feature films (although they should have been placed among other documentaries or in the video centre). Ela Milova thinks that the feature films section was less controlled.
That is what a producer Iryna Pismennaya whose film “I’m invited to a ball” got a prize at Berlin Cinema Festival told ERB:
“There are some of my films but not all of them. There are only those that were shot officially. The ones that do not threaten anyone. The film “I’m invited to a ball” is about women who faced the perestroika. Two of them died and the other two left the country. The film is not mentioned there. The film about Bykau isn’t either. A few other films are also missing: “To live till love”… All the films have not been included in it”.
The complier of the catalogue Volha Nyachai explained to ERB that the most famous and honoured producers had been included in the catalogue:
“There are about a thousand names. Those are people having a lot of prizes, who are prestigious and famous, those who shot a lot of films. And those to contributed more to the cinema art”.
It is necessary to note that Hashchavatski’s film “The Square” got a lot of prizes. However, it was not enough to deserve the honour to be included in the collection of articles “Belarusian Cinema. The persons”.
