Berlinale film highlights Belarus protesters' courage to carry on
Reuters
Published Mar 04, 2021 04:01PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - The director of "Courage," a documentary about three actors who threw themselves into the protests that erupted after Belarus's contested presidential elections last summer, hopes the film will help highlight the plight of political prisoners in the country.
The film, which is showing at this year's Berlin Film Festival, follows the lives of a trio of actors who 15 years ago quit the Minsk State Theatre in protest against repression to set up their own underground theatre group.
Last year, their time came when thousands took to the streets across the East European country of 10 million, saying that the election victory claimed by President Alexander Lukashenko was fraudulent.
"We knew from the very beginning that it could get real serious," said director Aliaksei Paluyan. "When a person who has been exploiting your country for 26 years says they are going to shoot... to me and to my camera-woman it was clear: They are going to shoot."
The protests that have racked the country since August have seen opposition candidate Svetlana Tichankovskaya driven into exile, while her husband and many close allies are in prison alongside many others who have been arrested in police crackdowns of a brutality unprecedented in the country.
Paluyan, a Belarusian who left for Germany in 2012, said that while he was hoping the film would reach a big audience, he was afraid, both for his country and for his film's three protagonists, thrust into the centre of attention by his film.
"Courage and audacity is when you say 'I'm afraid, I'm horribly afraid, but I'm still going to continue'," he said.
The film festival began on Monday in a low-key, private fashion, being streamed to a select audience of journalists and industry professionals rather than playing to packed cinemas. The public will be invited to screenings from the festival in June, when authorities hope vaccinations will enable cinemas to reopen.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.