Svetlana has lost her son who was found dead while he was in the army. As she tries to shed light on the culture of violence and abuse in the Belarusian military, a group of young friends from the techno underground soon face being drafted themselves. They go to rave parties in undershirts and round sunglasses, but in a moment the party could be over – at least until huge protests break out in the streets following the recent ‘re-election’ of dictator-president and Putin sympathiser, Aleksandr Lukashenko. A glimmer of hope and a promise of change, which only causes the brutality of the authoritarian society to erupt in full force.
There are 36 days left before Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. On another Baptism of Christ holiday an ice hole was made in a pond in a bedroom suburb of Kyiv. Church bells are heard on the shore, people are undressing, standing in line... In this short observational film, closeups of people of different ages, lines of naked bodies and short conversations tell us about the fragility of life, the contradictions of human faith and the joy of existence.
It’s 2020 and Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, is overflowing with anti-government protests. A dreamy figure – Mara – takes us on a journey alongside the protesting crowds. Mara’s symbolic presence is a stark contrast to the harsh reality of the street. There is a determination to Mara, but also a fragility – as if her persona reflects the collective mental state of the protesters witnessing their dream for freedom turn into a nightmare.
2021 was a turning point for Belarus and 6 Belarusian students - as well as for the city of Łódź, Poland, in which they found themselves. Across the rails of change and transformation, documenting a time that has not been before and will not repeat again. Heroes of the film have very different fates and experiences, but they are all connected by the place they found themselves in - the post-industrial and post-apocalyptic city, which becomes a part of their story and a hero of its own. Students, transport, quaters, youth, revolution, local apocalypse, changes and turns - they all mix in a documentary kaleidoscope 'Across the Rails'.
A group of students finds themselves in an academic environment, which hides a terrifiying danger. Should they stay? Where to expect a menace from? What would happen if they try to leave? Students are forced to find it all out by themselves, without getting any hints.
On the Eastern front in 1941, German troops attack a Red Army's field hospital destroying it and causing a massive loss of life. The surviving soldiers try to fight back but have to retreat, among them a young pilot , Vyacheslav with his dog Red. Having survived the German onslaught they are sent to the front line where Red will prove his courage...
Valery Liashkevich is a homeless artist who lives at a railway station and for over twenty years has painted pictures in the streets of the town of Gomel in Belarus. For the natives he is no more than a local attraction. For art critics he is a phenomenon worth close attention.
The film focuses on the relationship between Casimir and the monk Justin. If the former is looking for answers to the questions of existence, the latter is sure that he has already comprehended all the mysteries. Ambitious and domineering, Justin believes that people should be kept in constant fear. Kazimir, on the other hand, strives for freedom of the spirit and comes to the conclusion that people pray to the wrong God and are therefore unhappy. These antipodes value each other in their own way. Justin, sending Casimir to the stake, loses the only person close to him. In his last moments, Kazimir does not hate Justin.
An entrepreneurial young man organizes an unusual cooperative. Its members are doubles of prominent political figures, each of whom left a noticeable mark in Russian history. Like the propaganda teams of the recent past, this team travels around the country. Everyone communicates with the people in accordance with their image, and often the audience perceives the double as its prototype - and reacts accordingly ...
13-year-old boy Ivan loses all loved ones to World War II. His father was killed, and his mother died during the bombing. Ivan has to survive, relying only on his own strength. He is evacuated to the Urals, settles in a factory and even finds the opportunity to help strangers.