Best Belarusian documentary movies

The Road Movie (2017)

Anything can happen on Russian roads and is precisely shot by the dashboard camera. Super-objective video registration grows into the strong image of Russian national character – with its permanent awaiting for the miracle and habitual approach to real dramas. A forest on fire as a symbol of Russian hell, a military tank at a car wash and car chase in the vicinity of Kremlin shot with a dashboard cam at the same time when Boris Nemtsov, the leader of political opposition, was shot dead near Kremlin. Dashboard cam depicts life in it’s purity as an unbiased observer.

Where Are We Headed? (2021)

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.

Celebration (2019)

The town of Maardu in Estonia organises an annual Ukrainian-themed festival, called 'Sorochinsky Fair' after the short story by Nikolai Gogol. More than 15,000 people come every year. This is the largest Ukrainian fair outside of Ukraine, and it has even been entered into the Ukrainian Book of Records. This festival presents life in all its vividness, variety, and unpredictability, with the beauty contest as its central motif. The protagonists of Gogol's works are transported to the modern day in all their enchanting absurdity, and they fit in pretty well. It is a kaleidoscope of incidents and viewpoints, observed with engagement and curiosity.

Handbook (2021)

A felicitous and at the same time almost unbearable cinematic experimental set-up that uses documentary means to show what the Belarusian reality behind the news items looks like. Based on eyewitness accounts, Pavel Mozhar re-stages Lukashenko’s perfidious and oppression-based power system. Violence in the shape of detailed reconstructions may seem abstract at first glance but drills itself into our consciousness all the more persistently in the course of the film.

Song Titled 328 (2020)

Belarus is a country of authoritarianism, capital punishment and poverty which is fighting a ruthless war on drugs. Thousands of young people end up behind bars because of the Criminal Code’s infamous ‘anti-drug’ Article 328. When 19-year-old Diana died of an overdose of ecstasy in her boyfriend Illia’s arms, her friends were too scared to call an ambulance. Only Anton asked for help, realising that he was facing up to 25 years in prison.

Belarus: Recalculating Route (2020)

On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The results, according to which Alexander Lukashenko won, were not recognized by 14 countries. Protests and mass detentions of protesters have been taking place in the country for more than two months. Documentary director Maxim Shved, in order to capture the mood of people and their political views, installed cameras in the cars of two taxi drivers, Pavel and Anna. They talk to passengers, and inevitably their dialogues come down to politics.

Debut (2017)

The soulless atmosphere of a women's penitentiary destroys the prisoners' personality, kills all femininity in them. The film looks at the rationality of the long prison terms for women with children.

Warmth (2012)

This is a strange little place, where in winter, among the snowdrifts and frozen ice waterfalls, it is very warm. Men and women half-dressed, heated. Their movements at the machines are perfect - fast, rhythmic, precise, like a dance. The relentless rumble of cars is like music. Such an impeccable harmony between people and mechanisms that they seem to be something single, whole, a continuation of each other. Only for moments does a debugged endless action interrupt: someone thinks, or wipes sweat from his forehead, or sits down to breathe. People at this factory in the village of Smilovichi near Minsk make felt boots, which are then sold around the world.

Pure Art (2019)

A film about contemporary Belarus, freedom and art. A mysterious artist appears on the streets of Minsk and starts to paint. Passers-by, intrigued, want to know what he is creating, but the artist will not reveal his secret. Step by step, the viewers learn more about him. His name is Zahar Cudin and he is one of the most promising Belorussian painters.

Belarus: Personal Stories From a Country in Turmoil (2020)

Mass protests across Belarus erupted following the widely disputed election that put President Lukashenko in office for a sixth term. Three Belarusian filmmakers document personal stories of people caught up in the political turmoil. Filmmaker Maksim Shved was arrested, imprisoned and then released while the protests around him swelled. Meanwhile, Ekaterina Markavets observes the psychological burden of her fellow citizens and worked with professional psychologists to set up a volunteer support service for people affected by current events. Andrei Kutsila followed a celebrated Belarusian broadcast journalist who worked for State TV for nearly 40 years, now in hospital recovering from injuries she sustained while at a protest. All three filmmakers wonder what the future holds for their country and fellow citizens.

An Ordinary President (1996)

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

Advent 2. The Apocalypse (2020)

The action consists of two parts and is timed to the day of the presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus.

Unknown Belarus. Komarovka (2020)

Minsk Komarovsky market is the main food market in Belarus. People call it “Komarovka”. It organically coexists people of all ages, backgrounds and characters. While for some the market has become a second home, others continue to dream of more.

Loud Music (2013)

A lonely man contemplates the trouble of meeting girls in a bar.

Reporting from the Rabbit Hutch (2001)

The politically minded director transcends the headlines to highlight the many atrocities committed by Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko on the businessmen and journalists who dare voice dissent, and the political figures and presidential hopefuls who would seek to wrestle away control of the Republic of Belarus.

Long Knives Night (1999)

A harrowing and brave response to dictatorship.

We Are Living on the Edge (2002)

“We are living on the edge”, says a simple peasant woman from Dubna, a village in Hrodna region. These words sound symbolic: the village is situated on the steep bank of the Neman, and the river keeps undermining the houses and the plots making the villagers seek for new lands.

Nadya's Village (1997)

Before the Chernobyl disaster, Nadja's village was home to 300 peasant families. After evacuation, only 6 households remain and access to the village is shut off. The remaining villagers continue to raise livestock, cultivate crops, and continue with their lives regardless of contamination.

Der Krieg in mir (2020)

Expiration Date (2022)

For several months, the director has been talking to people who find their food in the garbage. Having won their trust, he tries to understand their philosophy, the organization of the garbage dump society, the motivation for leading such a life. The author tries to understand the main reason for their situation and deplorable state. His interlocutors are happy to talk about their difficulties. While hidden from the eyes of other people, they talk about human destiny, politics and God.