{"id":203521,"date":"2026-09-13T12:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203521\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T12:53:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:53:23","slug":"documentary-on-reprisals-in-belarus-awarded-at-venice-international-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203521\/","title":{"rendered":"Documentary on reprisals in Belarus awarded at Venice International Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Kuci\u0142a's Facebook account)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

September 13, <\/strong>Pozirk.<\/strong> <\/em>Belarusian filmmaker Andrej Kuci\u0142a\u2019s documentary Letters from the Silenced Country<\/em> won the Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film follows five Belarusians, whose lives have been disrupted by state violence and politically-motivated repression, offering a portrait of life in contemporary Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each story in the film shows a different experience of reprisals. The characters include a father who hides from surveillance to avoid arrest and separation from his daughter; a former criminal investigator who fled Belarus; a student convicted for participating in protests; and 50-year-old dissident Vitold A\u0161urak, who died in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jury said Letters from the Silenced Country<\/em> puts a human face on a crisis often reduced to headlines and statistics, showing the difficult choices people make to preserve their humanity. The film\u2019s story extends beyond Belarus, resonating with anyone who has loved someone from a distance or struggled to maintain their identity under pressure to disappear, it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe never expected to be selected for a festival like this,” Kuci\u0142a told Pozirk<\/em> earlier this year. “We Belarusians know very well what is happening within our country. We feel our own pain. But how can we raise awareness about our problem? Art, in a sense, broadens these possibilities. We thought it might help people far beyond our country\u2019s borders understand what we have gone through, what we are going through and what might happen to us in the future. And to dispel the stereotype that often confuses us with Russians or equates us with Russian politics, or even the policies of the Belarusian regime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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