Mara

FAST FORWARD 2023 / Projections:
13.12.2023 / 18:00 / CIC “Budo Tomović” – Dodest / Podgorica

Sasha Kulak / France, UK / 2022 / 59′

Director: Sasha Kulak
Screenplay: Sasha Kulak
Editor: Sasha Kulak
Music: Pavel Bocharov
Production: Les Steppes Productions
Producers: Louis Beaudemont, Ksenia Gorenstein

SYNOPSIS

The documentary essay capturing the changing emotions of ordinary people following the Belarus elections of 2020. Minsk overflows with massive anti-government protests. People take to the streets to defend their dream and object to the state of anxiety they have been living in for years. The narrative invites the viewer to join Mara while she watches the story unfold. Haunted by the scenes from the streets, she is caught between facing her own reality and escaping into her dreams. This is an essay on the nightmare of a community, a nightmare that has united an entire nation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sasha Kulak is a multi-award winning director and cinematographer whose view focuses on the thin layers of reality invisible to the human eye. Born in Vitebsk, Belarus, her films have taken her to communities all over the world whether it be the Mexican mennonites (Salamanca, 2015), an abandoned mining town in the USA (Quicksilver Chronicles, 2019) or the Belarusian protests of 2020 (Mara, 2022). Her film A hawk as big as a horse, made in collaboration with Arte La Lucarne, won a special mention at Dok Leipzig in 2022.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

  • Beldocs 2023 (Serbia)
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR 2022 (Netherlands)
  • Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF 2022 (Estonia)