Kalinovski Square

Kalinovski Square Synopsis

Three months before elections the president of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko claimed: "You have no other choice, you will vote for me!" This is exactly how it happened in March 2006. We started to film in January 2006, two months before elections, and continued through the whole year. We were trying to figure out how did it happen that 83% of population voted for Lukashenko? The film tracks the opposition struggle during few post-election days. Using a lot of archive material imprinted in the course of Lukashenko's governing author draws a parallel between history and recent days. The movie shows the falsehood of the official propaganda and the ambiguous, sometimes polar, attitude of simple people. Assembling together all the debris of the opinions, comparing different historical events, jeering at dictator's arrogance and manners, admiring courage and dedication of the young generation, the feature approaches the understanding of what is really going on in the center of Europe.

Authorities persecuted director Yury Khashchavatski already since his first movie on Lukashenko - "An Ordinary President" (1996). They still watch him. All production was done underground.