Film Screening and Panel: Voices of the New Belarus
Film and Media Studies Program and European Studies Council will host the premiere of the art-documentary film Voices of the New Belarus, directed by Andrei Kureichik, on December 12 at 5:00 PM followed by a panel discussion. Also, please join us for a reception preceding the screening, which will take place at 4:00 PM in HQ lower level lobby.
This art documentary addresses the challenges of Belarusians’ resistance to the autocratic regime of Alexander Lukashenko and the dire situation of political detainees in post-Soviet Belarus. The Yale University is a birthplace for the film. The inaugural presentation of the art-documentary “Voices of the New Belarus” occurred amid widespread acclaim at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2023 (Norway), the leading international human rights conference. The film contains unique, exclusive documentary footage and videos existing in a single copy, which cannot be found anywhere else. The premier screening and discussion of the film “Voices of the New Belarus” will be held at Yale University on December 12th at 5 p.m. in the HQ, rm L01 (320 York str.). Special guest of the event is Belarusian poet, journalist and cultural activist Vladimir Zarkhin (Boston).
Trailer of art-documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=333JOPGVeB8&t=51s
The documentary film is complemented by a documentary play by Andrei Kureichik that collects monologues of Belarusian political prisoners who were caught in the crosshairs of Lukashenko’s repressive machine. “Voices of the New Belarus” is a astonishing example of international protest art, created in a organic collaboration between artists and the academy, on the platform of Yale University. Prominent Yale University professors — Tim Snyder, Marci Shore, Edyta Bojanowska, Jason Stanley, Yuri Kordonsky and David Tate recite these illuminating and uplifting tales. Swedish-Belarusian composer and director Dmitry Plaks composed the musical complement to the artwork installation. One of the documentary’s heroes was Ales Bialiatsky, the 2022 Nobel Peace Laureate. The Monologue of Bialiatski will be presented in art-documentary by Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University. The idea of the project serves the mission to demonstrate solidarity with those currently incarcerated and prompt discussion on potential avenues for the release of political prisoners in Belarus.
Andrei Kureichik (https://worldfellows.yale.edu/person/andrei-kureichik/), a writer and theater and cinema director from Belarus who is currently in exile, authored the project “Voices of the New Belarus”. Andrei
Kureichik is renowned for his artistic solidarity initiatives that have traversed over forty nations. Andrei received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Expression from the European Parliament in 2020 in recognition of his advocacy for human rights while serving on the Coordination Council of Belarus. Andrei Kureichik teaches at Yale “Art of Resistance” as MacMillan Fellow and Lecturer.
Vladimir Zarkhin is a Belarusian-American poet, cultural activist, publicist and an social entrepreneur. Born and raised in Minsk, Vladimir graduated from Minsk Polytechnic Institute, and subsequently upon immigrating to the United States, from Boston University. Mr. Zarkhin has a versatile life and professional experience including university teaching and human services entrepreneurship. Presently Vladimir serves on the Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. His articles on contemporary politics and history had been published in “Sobesednik” and story.ru Magazines. The book of Vladimir’s latest poetry collection currently is being published in Kiev, Ukraine. As poet and writer Dmitry Bykov wrote: Vladimir’s texts “are mournful and serious but not desperate.”
Generously Sponsored by:
Film & Media Studies Program; European Studies Council at the Yale MacMillan Center; Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies; and Human Rights Foundation