Discoveries from Belarus World Cinema

A political satire which exposes the shape of totalitarianism in the presidency of Alexander Lukaschenka, admirer of Hitler.

A story about two homeless teenagers who have a dream - to visit a beautiful White Lake.

The protagonist learns that his friend needs a large sum of money in currency for an operation abroad. In the meantime, the country is in the midst of an economic crisis: currency and commodity shortages, rising prices, and multiple exchange rates. In these conditions, not only the amount of money, but also the currency becomes a problem. To collect and convert the necessary funds, he attracts childhood friends and suggests taking a risk by using a "black" currency scheme. But is everyone ready to sacrifice personal comfort and plans for the sake of saving the life of even a loved one? It turns out that in a crisis you can lose as well as gain, but who and what, it remains to be seen....

Based on the works of Ivan Shamyakin. The heroes of the film are representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Yesterday, their works were considered a national treasure, but now they are no longer needed. The famous writer Ivan Andreevich is forced to earn a living by selling his own books with autographs. More fortunate was his friend, the famous artist Mikhail Antonovich. All his paintings were bought by a western collector. But the banquet arranged by the artist on this occasion turned out to be completely depressing...

An Azerbaijanian veteran of battle for Brest fortress takes gun again 50 years later - to defend Nagorny Karabakh from Armenians.

Young Belarusian lad does not want to come back to Belarus after his educational visa is over. However, the circumstances forced him to do that. He reveals his native country once again. American dream turns into Belarusian one.

Russia in 2000. The end of the post-Soviet era. The province of Ivanovo. The Mironovich family keeps a wake: their youngest son Andrej died in the war. His older brother Anton meets Andrej's last wish: He drives his motorcycle through the city at sunrise. Meanwhile, in love with Anton Vika is raped after the disco. Her mother commits a senseless murder at home. There are no guilty parties.

The hero of the film consciously goes to extreme actions and analysis of the psychological process, where subconscious pictures of visions and discoveries give grounds for real fears for the future of humanity. The semantic and pictorial fabric of the film develops against the background of deep retrospectives about the emergence of Christianity. The film was shot in 1991 by actor Nikolai Kochegarov in Minsk.

When winter comes, it is hard for those who try to escape from the colds alone, relying only on themselves. The heroes of one of the most famous folk tales come to this conclusion. The tale became the literary basis of the film. The age-old folk wisdom is embodied here in a simple story.

Barbie in the metaspace of the ‘Russian world’: when the doll is taken out of the package, the bright makeup runs down her face like little streams of dirt, her high cheekbones become bruised, and the plastic cracks when clashed with reality. If you don't morph from a chrysalis into a butterfly with titanium wings studded with spikes, how long will you be able to survive in this world?

How often children do not find understanding on the part of adults, and older parents become a burden for their grown, busy children. The story of the trials that fell to the lot of the four young "truth seekers", who decided to solve their own problems, and at the same time help their grandmother, whom her own children want to take to a nursing home.

This is a story about the mysterious world of anti-utopian future where each human-being's fallen asleep and replaced himself by robots. Unusual robot is destined to find output - he is seeking answers to his disturbing dreams...

Ruslyk, the president's personal film director, tries to save the world while battling mental illness. During his one-day odyssey through the city of Minsk he encounters doctors, politicians, propagandists, artists, drunks and lowlifes.

The childhood of the young Orthodox priest Dmitry passed back in Soviet times, which was reflected in his upbringing and development, because he had to grow up between two fires. The most dear and close people were divided into believers and atheists. Having reached the age of majority, he decides to become a priest. On the path of life, he encounters anger, pity, mistrust and pain, but firmly believes in his ideals. This helps him to bring goodness and peace in his ministry and in worldly life, to help and give hope to desperate people. But one day, evil from the past overtakes Dmitry himself. What will happen when the priest himself faces the main question in his life?

In a city hospital, a young man and his mistress decide to find out the relationship, waiting for his wife, who was poisoned because of their affair, to come out of a coma. Two views on the same problem, two worlds that can not touch, and one dialogue that cuts through space and time in the hope of finding answers...

Experimental short action film. The vision behind this work was to combine fight choreography with modern shooting technology – motion control arm, point cloud, 360° bullet-time rig with 45 GoPro, POV, transitions, etc. It was both a true challenge and a dream project.

After being wounded in Afghanistan, Alexey returned home. While he was at war, his mother married an official of the highest state authority. Having become a casual witness to the preparation of a coup d'etat, Alexey decides to join someone else's game...

This is ‘a road movie’ encapsulated in the Moscow metro system and filmed over the course of one year: a documentary film that observes cultural and social issues in modern Russia.

Led by their curiosity four friends undertake a dangerous trip close to midnight. On their way all kinds of distressing and fascinating things happen.

Artem, an unlucky but cheerful student, is undeservedly imprisoned for 15 days. The situation is complicated by the fact that he has a friend, a Rottweiler named Boy, who has absolutely nowhere to go. And yet Artem manages to get him adopted - a charming stranger Sasha becomes the temporary mistress of Boy. Returning two weeks later to pick up the dog, Artem suddenly notices that Sasha is blind. He decides to leave the girl a guide dog and, unnoticed by her, to settle in her apartment....

Stealing a prized falcon to help fund their dream of moving to Paris, two HIV-positive Kazakh teenagers come of age as they embark on a journey of liberation.

The Belarusian village Lubeiki is inhabited solely by women. They not only outlived their husbands, but their children as well. Nevertheless, they have immense vitality and will to live. In the words of one of the main characters, "life is short, but sweet." In the film, they sift through their memories and share with us their wisdom.

The world of a corporate cleaner collapses, when he get replaced by a robot.

When Sasha turned 11, "it became dark around and it has been dark ever since." Many things in Sasha's life are surprising. Why is his work at the factory a great joy rather than a boring obligation? Why does he turn on the lights after sunset? He has been through a lot. Bullied and beaten in his childhood, Sasha was often very ill. Why does he never complain? It's a miracle he can hear at all. So he listens to the world around him, to what his fellow passengers on the bus talk about. Through these conversations about minor or important, private or global, fleeting and eternal things alike, Sasha gets to know people, as well as himself.

This is a story of the lane which becomes a witness of civilization development with final understanding of historic recurrence.

In the house of goldmaker Tikhon Kondratievich Molokov, carnival is celebrated noisily, on a grand scale, with gypsies. Everyone drank pretty, and when the mayor tried to “seduce” the owner’s daughter Anisya, the girl’s father broke his nose. Frightened by the consequences of this incident, Tikhon Kondratievich decided to flee the city.

Belarusian vlogger and young farmer Semyon, who is a deeply religious man, always loving to philosophize in relation to democracy, admire his mother and share this with the whole world. For five years now, he has been living in a village with two little sons and raise sheep. It would seem that a harmonious existence in the wilderness can not hinder anything...

This is a documentary about a renowned precentor and a church composer Irina Denissova who suddenly becomes a nun in the apex of her career. At the same time, this is a film about God's love towards man. It seemed that a tragedy had occurred: a family of two prominent musicians was ruined, and Irina was abandoned by her husband while struggling with a serious disease of her son.

This lively piece uses the traditional Belarusian vycinanka (papercut) style to illustrate eight well-known proverbs through humorous visual vignettes. To complement the folklore-based storytelling, it features music by ethno‑trio Troitsa.

Will the life of the video blogger Gorin of Lugansk change after he encounters a UFO? "Monkey Ostrich and Grave" is the story of the video blogger Genadi Gorin of Lugansk (the capital of a new pseudo-republic occupied by Russia), whose life floats parallel to the horrific reality of the unfinished war.

A young priest arrives in a provincial town. Thanks to his unconventional approach to his role as a clergyman, he manages to show what true love for one's neighbor is. He buys a cafe where he starts feeding some visitors for free and listens to their dramatic and tangled stories. The lives of people, as well as the priest himself, begin to change drastically.

Filmed in one shot, the film tells about a modern Belarusian enterprise, whose staff, due to tax benefits, is partially made up of people with disabilities. The trouble that happened on the eve of a holiday reveals the true essence of the heroes.

Three times a week, 15 women travel from different parts of the city by public transport, with transfers to a small club located in a former kindergarten. Here, on the outskirts of Minsk, is the only place in the city where they can take dance lessons for a nominal fee of 3,000 Belarusian rubles. The program includes belly dance, tango, blues. The students are no longer young, all at least 50 years old. Each of them had a very difficult life. Having gone through all the hardships, these women have not forgotten how to enjoy life and are still waiting for their "prince".

Set in a small, typical Belarusian village – granny Sima’s only concern is for the future of her alcoholic son, Vanya. Accompanied by her best friend, a white goat called Manya, she starts a war with her neighbor, Glasha, who happens to be the village Vodka maker…

Belarus, Vileika district of Minsk region. Lonely elderly people are leaving for winter to the home of seasonal residence. Each of them carries their own experience and beliefs, but they will have to stay the winter together. The days pass in sicknesses, conversations, watching TV... In mid-winter, there appears a new resident of the house, and the life inside changes.

Beautiful stories end with a wedding, and the ugly ones begin after it. At least, this is the opinion of a young writer, who went to a wedding celebration and learned three stories there: about a lonely physicist, about a doctor trying to start a new life, and about a policeman who fears his own wife more than someone else's bullet.

Xenia’s adult life was certain to be bright and happy. Academy of Fine Arts, playing in theatre, friends, admirers, and first love were there in her life. As she plunged in her feelings, she did not even realize that she was about to follow a path of temptation and suffering. Everything she holds precious — friends and her future fame as an actress — is sacrificed to drugs. Atonement is soon to follow: she finds out she is HIV-positive, her father dies, and her mother has a car accident… There seems to be no power, which could save her. However, the discovery of the faith, the self-sacrifice of her mother and the courage of her friend help her come back to life. The film is shot in the genre of docudrama in a modern and dynamic style and is sure to attract wide audience.

August 6, 1915. After several unsuccessful attempts to assault the positions of the Russian army, the command of the German troops is decided on a new one. On the eve of the attack on the position of the Germans deliver cylinders with chlorine. Lieutenant Kotlinsky accidentally learns about the upcoming use of chemical weapons, but he does not have the time and opportunity to protect his people. All that remains for him is to set up a company to fight to the last.

Searching for an escape from an impoverished city life, a retired couple moves to an abandoned country house in the radioactive zone of Chernobyl. Twenty five years after the disaster, the husband is convinced the land is ready to be cultivated, his wife on the other hand is less sure. A fable of love, Half-Life explores the boundaries of commitment and fear.

Eight funny, fascinating stories in which the most popular hero of folk legends and legends, Nesterka, and his inseparable friends, the dog and the cat, find a way out of any situation. They turn ordinary clay pots into musical instruments, defeat the bloodthirsty Dragon who kidnapped Nesterka's bride, and find a solution to the Licho, who settled in their house...

A music video made collaboratively for the strange 1994 song by French band Les Pirez, which had become a hit at one of the main Russian domestic animation festivals.

10-year-old Timur, who came to his grandfather Korney for the summer, finds the book "Timur and His Squad" by Arkady Gaidar in the barn, after reading which he decides to create his own team to help those who need it.

A lone passenger is reflected in the windows of a train crawling through layers of textures towards Minsk. During his absence, the city has not changed: all the streets are frozen, long-gone voices can be heard in the empty rooms and around the corner you can find yourself in a video game from your childhood.

While escaping from the army, Belarusian Egor accidentally meets a Syrian refugee on a train to Warsaw. The circumstances make both guys escape from the hostile reality together while scorning the arms and singing of peace.

The movie tells about the fates of doctors in Belarus, their difficult profession, relationships in the profession and in the family. In the center of attention is the socially active position of modern doctors, who put the health of patients first, not their personal benefits. And make their choice, guided by civic position and the desire to develop domestic medicine not only at its own level, but also at the international level - sharing their successes and professional achievements with colleagues from other countries. In the center of the story, a doctor Oleg Korzun works in one of the medical institutions of Belarus and is going to go to work in Germany. However, Oleg's plans change when he receives a patient who needs a heart and lung transplant at the same time.

Based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

Fifteen-year-old Marina is given a terrible diagnosis - leukemia. Parents are shocked and they decide that only abroad can heal their child. But the oncologist Olga Nikolaevna convinces them that the girl cannot be taken away, but must be treated here, at home. In addition to everything, Marina has a rare blood group, which doctors do not have reserves of. The girl’s mother also cannot become a donor - she is expecting a second child, and an operation must be urgently needed ...

A girl — or a woman — in a bright red scarf, with a soft toy mouse in her arms. To look at her, you wouldn’t guess that she’s 50 and has been homeless for three years. Her incredible passion to live prevents her from freezing on the cold streets of Moscow.

The plot is based on a story about the difficult life in a forgotten village that suffered from the Chernobyl accident. But people work, joke, live without fear, hope and wait. Yanka Kaganets, a conscientious man that loves his land, is one of them. He knows that for him and for his beloved Mary, there will come a spiritual balance one day...

A self-proclaimed videographer prodigy sets out to lose his virginity as the 21st birthday present to himself. Not only does he manage to persuade a female acquaintance and two of her friends to come to his dacha, he makes sure they watch a retrospective of his work, and his seduction dances, in full. A terrifying night lies ahead of them.

Browsing memes turned out to be an unexpected encounter with a mysterious man.

The personal mythology of everyday life creates a personal system of signs, meanings and images in public space. Sequences of places, views, movements, contacts and observations push the boundaries of reflection over the ordinary. The self-evidence of what is happening and the routine forms of social interaction build a documentary narrative through the prism of individual experience of perception.

This story took place in a small Belarusian village at Christmas time. Having received a three-day vacation, Anatoly came here to play a wedding with the beautiful Lyuba. Their relatives take up the preparations and a funny pre-wedding huddle begins....

Based on an old humorous Belarusian song. A peasant hired by a lord receives his well-deserved pay: for the first summer — a hen with chicks, for the second — a duck, for the third — a goose, for the fourth — a turkey, for the fifth — a calf, for the sixth — a ram, and for the seventh — a beautiful girl. But the gifts received from the lord's hands do not only bring joy: the girl got drunk and fell off the stove, and the ram broke the lord's legs.

Nikita and Volha have been maintaining a dysfunctional relationship for the past 8 years. In the following movie they play fictional Nikita and Volha who have only just met. Can anything be started anew at the end of history?