Větrné mlýny

How do Belarusian politics, the waning glory of poetry, and the navel of the sky relate to each other? Director Radim Procházka explores the presidential candidacy of renowned Belarusian poet Uladzimir Nyaklyaev during the manipulated 2010 elections. After the police brutally beat and disperse protestors on Independence Square, the poet ends up under house arrest. Thanks to poetry, however, he can escape and fight.

“A burned-out group of Brno intellectuals decides to go to Kolochava in Ukraine to perform ‘A Ballad for a Bandit’ there.” With these words, the author's collective presents their film, in which they use primarily documentary imagery to compose a lyrical grotesque about an epochal trip, which might be their goal. But it doesn't have to be. The main tool of expression here is the film’s edit, which places various shots, statements, and meanings next to each other, often in a sort of productive conflict. Just like in a poem, the “poetic function” of art and its ability to serve as the primary tool for expressing beauty is manifested in full force before our very eyes.