Ploshcha (2007)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Yuri Chashchevatsky

Writer:

Yuri Chashchevatsky (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Also Known As:

Kalinovski Square (International: English title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Estonia

Language:

Russian | Belarusian

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Minsk, Belarus

Company:

Baltic Film Production

Great documentary. Fight for democracy

Kalinovski square is documentary about a suppressed people fighting for their freedom. The starting point of this documentary takes place in the capital of Belarus - Minsk. In March 2006 a president election of fraud was arranged so the dictator, A. Lukaschenko, was elected with 80 % of the votes. The young generation of Belarus had had enough of corruption, harassment and arbitrary state power and went to the streets, in the so called jeans revolution. This documentary is Yuri Chashchevatsky most celebrated film and follows a long-standing and personally dangerous conflict with the Lukaschenko regime. A conflict, in which many independent journalists have been killed or disappeared in mysterious ways. In a country which regards human rights as western hypocrisy. The plot of the documentary tries to uncover the primitive and ugly mechanisms of a dictatorship, but also brings hope by letting the young generation come to word. The style of the documentary is much inspired by Michael More's ironic distance, but at the same, it tries to give an explanation to the underlying reasons why Europe's last dictatorship withstands. The movie is a discovery to what many people in the west takes for granted, and what other people must fight for to achieve – democracy.