Espejo de: A Date in Minsk
program information
Directors: Radu Jude, Pierre Léon, Lesley Knife, Ari Gold, Pavel & Timur Nedzvedz, Tamara Granatkina, Michelle G. Stratton, Christopher Small, Antos Sivyh, Waja Shchipko, Aglaya Yunova, Andrey Kashpersky, Viktor Lebedev & Anna Den, Masha Herz & Osman Nabiev, Victoria Zenchuk, Ihar Chyshchenia, Yulya Astrovskaya, Nikita Lavretski.
EDITOR: Nikita Lavretski.
Critical text
In the first issue of the self-published cinematographic zine of Belarusian Cinema Konchenyy movement, directors scattered all over the world have adapted to screen hilarious and poignant news stories written by Anton Serenekov in 2022, one of the last independent journalists working in Belarus. To do this, the filmmakers had to recreate and reimagine the most mystical country in Europe with makeshift means. But let's be real, these Belarusian filmmakers are experts in making the most out of nothing!
Of course, anyone can be a Belarusian Konchenyy director: in the first issue we’ve got the Golden Bear winner Radu Jude who’s actually never set foot in Belarus despite being inspired by Belarusian film; and Pierre Leon (Golden Leopard nominee), who discovered here a magical oasis between his conflicting motherlands of France and Russia. Still, most of the auteurs are authentically Belarusian: Lesley Knife is the godfather of Belarusian doom metal (he provided his own score for the short, albeit solo and not with his band Gods Tower), another star contributor is Ihar Chyshchenia, a documentarian who used to make films at the National Film Studio Belarusfilm but now went independent and tacked the theme of the depression epidemic through autobiographical lense.
BIOGRAPHY
Nikita Lavretski was born in 1994 in Minsk, Belarus. In 2018 she completed a master's degree in film studies at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in Minsk. His first feature film, "Belarusian Psycho", won the award for best Belarusian film in 2015 at the Listapad International Film Festival in Minsk.
11 – 16JUNIO 2023
11 – 16 JUNIO 2024