Vostrau Belarus (2009)

• 64%
• 2009
• Documentary
• Victor Asliuk

Belorussian President Lukashenko is overseeing a military procession in Minsk's impressive Victory Square. It is a precisely choreographed spectacle in authentic Soviet style. Suddenly, the scene shifts to the countryside where a grubby, elderly man is chopping down a tree 'for wooden people.' The old man lives in a deserted village, its houses on the verge of collapse. In his garden, times past are brought to life again, because he has built a miniature village from wood and straw, complete with religious tableaux and industrious inhabitants. The old man rules over them just as Lukashenko rules over the Belorussians, 'but living people don't want to listen to Alexander Lukashenko.' Director Victor Asliuk's contrast of Belarus rural and urban life is both touching and full of atmosphere. He examines the tangible differences between the young in the city and the elderly in the village and between modernity and tradition, interspersing modern images with archive material depicting the countryside as it used to be. Asliuk also looks at the opposing desires for preservation and change. An old woman in the village believes she has Lukashenko to thank for her pension, while in Minsk the camera follows demonstrators during protests against the regime shouting, 'Long live Belarus! Down with Lukashenko!