Long Knives Night (1999)

• 83%
• 1999
• Documentary
• Viktar Dashuk

"...makes Fahrenheit 9/11 seem tepid and weak...a brutal and brilliant bit of filmmaking." - Jim Knipfel, New York Press Indelible portraits of power's absolute corruption...an astonishing diatribe...heaves with disturbing scenes of violence against innocent Belarussians...a primal howl of outrage." - Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times "scuffed-knuckle...open a window on an atrocious reality American media channels don't bother to report...sharp, instructive, and mad as hell." - Michael Atkinson, Village Voice With fury and agony, Long Knives Night and Reporting from a Rabbit Hutch confront Europe's last dictator: Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. Writer / director Victor Dashuk has risked imprisonment and abuse - common for dissidents, as you see in the films - to depict and attack Lukashenko's rise to authority. Long Knives Night chronicles the 1996 anti-constitutional coup in Belarus. Lukashenko's actions are both symbolic and explicitly political: he reverts to Soviet-style state symbolism, blocks voting, and sics riot police on protesters to beat them bloody. With breathtaking access, Dashuk also reveals footage of the actual elected legislators locked out of their offices by the President's own guards.