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Voices of the New Belarus

Portraits in Documents

An experimental film by Oksana Mysina 

Screenplay by Andrei Kureichik

Announcement!

We are happy to announce that, as of 14 December 2022, there are two versions of Voices of the New Belarus - that is, the full-length feature released one year ago, and now a new short version titled Love is Stronger than Fear, which focuses on  some of the most devastating stories of political prisoners in Belarus. Love is Stronger than Fear highlights the statements and plights of Maria Kolesnikova (11-year sentence), Igor Losik (15-year sentence), Nikolai Statkevich (14-year sentence), Vitold Ashurok (murdered in prison), and others. A powerful feature of Love is Stronger than Fear is the participation of Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was a free man when he recorded his cinematic interpretation of Nikolai Statkevich. Ilya was arrested by the Russian government in July 2022 for his opposition to the war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison on 9 December 2022.  

Watch Entire Film Here

Voices of the New Belarus had its world premiere on Olga Karach's Nash Dom (Our House) TV channel on YouTube on December 9, 2021. Click on the image at right and watch the entire film here. The film is in Russian. English subtitles will be added soon.

Teaser for Voices of the New Belarus. Access English subtitles by clicking on the CC box in the lower right corner and selecting "English." Violin improvisation by David Movsesyan. Song "Blues Rock Mood" performed by Oxy Rocks, words by Oksana Mysina, music by Sergei Shchetinin. Vocals by Oksana Mysina.

Teaser No. 2 for Voices of the New Belarus. Violin improvisation by David Movsesyan. Song "Blues Rock Mood" performed by Oxy Rocks, words by Oksana Mysina, music by Sergei Shchetinin. Vocals by Oksana Mysina.

About Voices of the New Belarus

This Russian-language film began life as a play by Andrei Kureichik, a companion piece to his Insulted. Belarus(sia), of which Oksana Mysina made a film in 2020. It features a star-studded cast of Russian and Belarusian actors and politicians who came together to express their solidarity with the political prisoners in Belarus who are are beaten and murdered by the current, illegitimate regime, which lost the presidential election in 2020, but refused to give up power. Please read Andrei Kureichik's foreword to his play:

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The process of writing a play is usually associated with the arousal of one’s powers of imagination and one’s ability to transform reality artistically. In that case reality is merely an excuse to express an idea, a thought, or an emotion. But the text that follows is not like that. This is the first time I have written a play in which I totally rejected both any authorial text, and any attempt to stylize or interpret facts underlying the text. Sometimes the truth requires nothing more than to be told. Sometimes no one can express something better and more accurately than the prototypes themselves, those who have gone through experiences that no imagination can conjure. My authorial input in this text consists only of seeking out and reading many hundreds of testimonies of the victims of political terror in Belarus in order to choose 16 voices that would form a mosaic capable of providing a single integral picture of what has happened in Belarus. This text is a collective confession of a nation that has been beaten, raped, and insulted. These are the voices of victims of violence, people who have suffered terribly. The text comprises public interviews and letters from political prisoners, and from Belarusians who have suffered from repression. All names and surnames are genuine. Their stories form a document. A document of historical significance.
 

This is a documentary text based on published interviews, testimonies and letters of Belarusians who were victims of political terror in Belarus during the 2020 revolution. Those individuals are: Vitaly Marokko, Pyotr Kirik, Mariaa Kalesnikava, Marina Karabanova, Sergei Melyanets, Nikolai Statkevich, Alexei Berezinsky, Roman Zorich, Igor Losik, Anatoly Kudlasevich, Andrei Proskurin, Zhanna Lagutina, Polina Zvezdova, Marina Zolotova, Stepan Latypov, and Vitold Ashurok.

award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
Poster for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
Poster for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
Poster for Love is Stronger than Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
photo from screening of Love is Stronger than Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
award for Voices of the New Belarus / Love is Stronger that Fear
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