2018 marked the 25th anniversary of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad. The event, which ran from November 2nd until November 9th, was a showcase of young and socio-critical cinema from around the world, with the focus clearly being on post-Communist countries and on female directors and protagonists. Despite economic and political pressures, the festival managed to present a provocative artistic program that emphasized dissent and the need for political struggle, although the national competition does appear to have suffered from direct censorship as a result (see below).
Thematically, artistic director Igor Soukmanov’s program breathes the air both of social upheaval and the backlashes that come with. The characters populating his selection struggle with the promises and curses of tomorrow; women who bear the burdens of the everyday are seldom granted rewards. Irina (Martina Apostolova) from Bulgarian filmmaker Nadejda Koseva’s eponymous feature Irina and Zhipara (Perizat Ermanbetova) from Russian filmmaker Elizaveta Stishova’s Suleiman Mountain (Suleiman Gora) act as breadwinner, mother, wife, and husband to their patchwork-like families all at once – only love is shared by others.
No more redemptive is the fate of Erhao (Tian Tian) from Chinese filmmaker Cai Chengije’s The Widowed Witch (Xiao gua fu cheng xian ji), who is believed by her village to be a shaman and who must consequently achieve the impossible task of navigating her fellow villagers’ fears, hopes and resentments. All three debuts insert humor into the seemingly humorless only to then dig even deeper into the depths of the human soul. In the Listapad selection, hope is not easy to come by.
This is also true of FIPRESCI award winner The Chambermaid (La Camarista) by Mexican director Lila Avilés – another debut -, in which protagonist Eve (Gabriela Cartol) attempts to reconcile her cleaning job with her family life and her professional and romantic ambitions – all this against the backdrop of a luxurious hotel in which guests alternate special requests with feigned proximity. Still, like her female colleagues mentioned above, Avilés manages to find moments of peace in the catacombs of the film’s lavish setting. When Eve tries out her friend’s electric shocker, the relief at having dared and endured – which rather tellingly for Avilés’ universe, both comes with pain – can be read off her face.
The extraordinary number of debuts – 26 in total – is testimony to the fact that Soukmanov is not content with riding the mainstream festival wave. Though the competition featured two experienced festival travelers in Chinese director Jia Zhang-Khe’s Ash Is Purest White (Jianghu er nv) and Rumanian director Radu Jude’s I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians (Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari), the latter of which went on to win the festival’s main award, such reliance on big titles is not the rule. Many selected titles have had no or only minor notable success thus far. Fortunately, even debuts and small productions draw respectable crowds, especially when the productions originate from post-Communist countries. Minsk audiences seem to agree with Soukmanov that the cinemas of those territories are closely related to their own lives.
The international selection’s focus on the post-Communist region and its decidedly socio-political bent may gain importance as the Ministry of Culture tightens its grip on the event’s national competition. As reported by several Belorussian media outlets, the Listapad directorate lost its right to select films for the national competition this year, which are now being assessed by a commission at the Ministry of Culture. Not only does this step undermine the independence and aesthetic sovereignty of Listapad. Allegedly, the Ministry used the procedural changes to withdraw specific films that had already been marked for selection. (Several Belorussian filmmakers unaffected by the decision withdrew their submissions in response.)
Our jury at the 25th Listapad protested the changes in a statement that was read out at the closing ceremony. While the statement was well-received by the audience, signaling wide-spread anger at the Ministry’s actions, the economic and political pressure on Listapad has been mounting for years. The FIPRESCI should continue using its mandate as an international journalistic institution to stand in for the independence of film festivals around the globe.
Konstanty Kuzma
©FIPRESCI 2018