Five Belarusian films that explain life in authoritarian Belarus

Thirty years have passed since Aliaksandr Lukashenka came to power in Belarus and established his authoritarian regime. So far, this period of the country's history has not been sufficiently reflected by cultural figures: writers, musicians, artists and filmmakers. But some of the works already allow us to do so.

Euroradio has selected five documentaries that allow us to better understand contemporary Belarus and the reasons why it has not changed significantly over the last thirty years. 

"Ordinary President" (1996)

Directed by Yury Khashchavatsky

One of the first directors to sense the threat of authoritarianism looming over the country was director Yury Khashchavatsky. It was he who, two years into Lukashenka's first term, made a biting, sarcastic and frighteningly prophetic TV documentary about him, "An Ordinary President".

The homage to Mikhail Rom's famous Soviet film "Ordinary Fascism or Triumph Over Violence" in the title is not without reason. Khashchavatsky deliberately draws a parallel between Lukashenka's regime and the Third Reich to emphasize their common nature of total control.

Understanding is provided by the monologue of the still-living former interior minister Yury Zakharanka, who talks about the young president's harsh methods of rule, while Lukashenka himself directly admits that Germany under Adolf Hitler corresponds to his understanding of a strong presidential republic.

Khashchavatsky returned to the subject of Belarusian politics several times in his subsequent films "The Square" and "Ordinary Elections", but they did not have the same resonance as "Ordinary President".

"Courage" (2021)

Directed by Aliaksey Paluyan

For the young generation of Belarusians, the year 2020 was an unexpected discovery of what a truly unfree country we live in. But Belarusians have made attempts to overthrow the regime before: in 1996, 2006 and 2010.

In his debut feature film "Courage", director Aliaksey Paluyan combines all these events of endless resistance to the repressive power into one continuous chain, which, as it turned out, predetermined the formation of the most active and socially conscious part of society.

Most of the time the author focuses on the events of the year 2020, but the necessity of preserving the memory of the rallies of past generations and their victims through the theatrical art of the "Belarusian Free Theater" becomes an important element of the author's message.
 

"Around Belarus on bicycles with engines" (2017)

Directed by Barys Nikalaichyk

Unlike the other films in this list, "Around Belarus" was never intended to be a critical political statement. Created jointly by blogger and writer Roma Svechnikau and journalist Barys Nikalaychyk, the travel series for the publication 34mag tells the story of two young people traveling through the Belarusian provinces.

The authors try to reflect the real and unvarnished life of the country, where the political dimension emerges naturally, without additional pressure.

Made into a feature-length film, "Around Belarus" won the main prize of the national competition "Listapad" and caused dissatisfaction among the officials of the Ministry of Culture. As a result, they decided to tighten control over the films shown on the screens of the country's main film festival.

"Pure Art" (2019)

Directed by Maksim Shved

Can art tell us openly about the conditions in which a country and its society live? It can, especially when it's street art.

Documentary filmmaker Maksim Shved has found an elegant way to tell about the internal unfreedom of Belarus, dedicating his film "Pure Art" to so-called "street art" - the practice of public utilities to sketch inscriptions and drawings on the walls of cities with rectangles and squares of different colors.

At the same time, the director observes how the artist Zakhar Kudzin creates his suprematic drawings on the streets of Minsk, interacting directly with the citizens.

The result is not only a film about art, but also a glimpse into the late 2010s - the time of the still herbivorous Belarusian regime, which allowed people to do things that are hard to imagine today.

Because of this, Pure Art is the first Belarusian independent documentary to get a chance to be shown in a limited Minsk screening at the end of 2019.

You can see the film here. 

"Motherland" (2023)

Directed by Aliaksandr Mikhalkovich and Hanna Badziaka

It is still impossible to fully comprehend the hell that Belarusian society has fallen into after 2020. The process of understanding the collective trauma and the damage caused is still awaiting Belarusians in the future, but it is already possible to consider how this humanitarian and cultural catastrophe happened.

This is the subject of "Motherland", a documentary essay by the duo of journalist Hanna Badziaka and photographer and documentary filmmaker Aliajsandr Mikhalkovich, dedicated to the phenomenon of violence as a tool of the authorities to control Belarusian society.

Beginning with the story of the court case of the conscript Aliaksandr Korzhych, who died in the army, and the Belarusian ravers who were drafted into the army, the authors move from cases of harassment to large-scale events: the suppression of the 2020 rallies and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As if in stages, the authors trace the evolution of the country's slide back to basic instincts, when the authorities, seeking to control society, are ready to make any sacrifice.

And the death of people is not perceived as a tragedy, but only as an inevitable cost of success.