MOTHERLAND
Norway, Sweden, Ukraine 2023 – Director: Hanna Badziaka, Alexander Mihalkovich – Original language: Belarusian – Subtitles: English – Length: 90 min.
National service in Belarus lasts 18 months. Nikita gets called up and has one last party with his friends before he dons his uniform and starts his duties. Svetlana’s son Sascha returned from his barracks in a coffin covered with bruises and with strangulation marks on his neck. After the rigged elections in 2020, the militarised violence is unleashed on protestors. Silvia Bauer
Biography
Hanna Bedziaka has an MA in Philology and worked as an independent video and TV journalist in Minsk.
Belarusian-Ukrainian filmmaker Alexander Mihalkovich has a PhD in library science and subsequently studied directing.
Filmography
MY GRANNY FROM MARS, BY/UA/EE 2018, 83 min.
Note
This film contains and deals with violence.
Writer: Hanna Badziaka, Alexander Mihalkovich. Camera: Siarhiej Kanaplianik. Sound: Yngve Sætre, Thomas Angell Endresen. Editing: Katiia Vushnya; additional editors: Jakub Bastkowski, Jerzy Poniatowski. Music: Yngve Sætre, Thomas Angell Endresen. Production: Sisyfos Film Production AB. Producer: Mario Adamson. Co-Producers: Producer Ashley Smith / Sisyfos Film Production ashley@sisyfosfilm.com Co-producer Alexander Mihalkovich / Voka Films mihalkovich@gmail.com Co-producer Anita Norfolk / Folk Film anita@folk.film. International Sales: Lightdox.