Voices of the New Belarus

This art documentary addresses the challenges of Belarusians' resistance to the autocratic regime of Alexander Lukashenko and the dire situation of political detainees in post-Soviet Belarus. The Yale University is a birthplace for the film. The inaugural presentation of the art-documentary "Voices of the New Belarus" occurred amid widespread acclaim at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2023 (Norway), the leading international human rights conference.

The film contains unique, exclusive documentary footage and videos existing in a single copy, which cannot be found anywhere else.

The documentary film is complemented by a documentary play by Andrei Kureichik that collects monologues of Belarusian political prisoners who were caught in the crosshairs of Lukashenko's repressive machine. "Voices of the New Belarus" is a astonishing example of international protest art, created in a organic collaboration between artists and the academy, on the platform of Yale University.

Prominent Yale University professors — Tim Snyder, Marci Shore, Edyta Bojanowska, Jason Stanley, Yuri Kordonsky and David Tate recite these illuminating and uplifting tales. Swedish-Belarusian composer and director Dmitry Plaks composed the musical complement to the artwork installation.
 
One of the documentary's heroes was Ales Bialiatsky, the 2022 Nobel Peace Laureate. The Monologue of Bialiatski will be presented in art-documentary by Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University.
 
       The idea of the project serves the mission to demonstrate solidarity with those currently incarcerated and prompt discussion on potential avenues for the release of political prisoners in Belarus.

Documentary play by Andrei Kureichik

Author, Director and Producer: Andrei Kureichik. Playwright, Activist, Henry Hart Rice Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer, Fortunoff Fellow, Yale University.

Translator: John Freedman. Journalist, Writer, P.h.D, Harvard University.

Visual Artist: Luna Mafo

Composer: Dmitry Plax

Associate Director: Natasha Ramer

Sound Engineer: Joe Krempetz, Yale School of Drama.

Associate sound engineer: Jared Lawrie

Actors:

Timothy Snyder: Richard Levin Professor of History and Professor of Global Affairs, Yale University, reading the part of Ales Bialiatski.

Thomas Pang: Actor, Yale School of Drama, reading the part of Vitaly Marokko

Prentiss Patrick-Carter: Actor, Yale College, reading the part of Piotr Kirik.

Karen Killeen: Actress, Yale School of Drama, reading the part of Marina Karabanova.

Yura Kordonsky: Actor and Professor of Acting, Yale School of Drama, readin the part of Sergei Melyanets.

Edyta Bojanowska: Professor and Chair of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Yale University, reading the part of Polina Sharedno-Panasiuk.

Maksimas Milta: M.A., Macmillian Center for European Studies, Yale University, reading the part of Alexei Berezinsky.

David Tate: Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology and Lecturer in the School of Management, Yale University, reading the part of Roman Zmorich.

Jason Stanley: Jacob Urodsky Professor of Philosophy, Yale University, reading the part of Anatoly Kudlasevich.

Oscar Sweeting: Actor and Writer, Yale College, reading the part of Andrei Proskurin.

Lillian Wenker: Actress, Yale College, reading the part of Polina Zvezdova.

Meridian Monthy: Actress, Yale College, reading the part of Zhanna Lagutina.

Marci Shore: Associate Professor of European Cultural and Intellectual History, Yale University, reading the part of Marina Zolotova.

Aris Katafygiotis: Filmmaker, Yale College, reading the part of Stepan Latypov.

Raymond Vrazel: Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts @ Dillard University, reading the part of Nikolay Statkevich.

Casey Groves: writer and actor, reading part of Vitold Ashurok.

Walter Dixon IV: actor, B.A. in performing arts from Dillard University, reading part of Viktor Losik.

Special Thanks to:

Human Rights Foundation and Garry Kasparov, Yale University, Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies and director Stephen Naron, David Geffen School of Drama and Dean James Bundy, “Moscow Nights” (New Orleans), “Artists at Risk” and Ivor Stodolski and Marita Mukkonnen, Robert Blazhko.

© Andrei Kureichik 2023ART INSTALLATION "VOICES OF THE NEW BELARUS". Documentary play by Andrei Kureichik


Author, Director and Producer: Andrei Kureichik. Playwright, Activist, Henry Hart Rice Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer, Fortunoff Fellow, Yale University.

Translator: John Freedman. Journalist, Writer, P.h.D, Harvard University.

Visual Artist: Luna Mafo

Composer: Dmitry Plax

Associate Director: Natasha Ramer

Sound Engineer: Joe Krempetz, Yale School of Drama.

Associate sound engineer: Jared Lawrie

Assistant Producer: Daniel Edison

Assistant Director: Natasha Geither

Actors:

Timothy Snyder: Richard Levin Professor of History and Professor of Global Affairs, Yale University, reading the part of Ales Bialiatski.

Thomas Pang: Actor, Yale School of Drama, reading the part of Vitaly Marokko

Prentiss Patrick-Carter: Actor, Yale College, reading the part of Piotr Kirik.

Karen Killeen: Actress, Yale School of Drama, reading the part of Marina Karabanova.

Yura Kordonsky: Actor and Professor of Acting, Yale School of Drama, readin the part of Sergei Melyanets.

Edyta Bojanowska: Professor and Chair of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Yale University, reading the part of Polina Sharedno-Panasiuk.

Maksimas Milta: M.A., Macmillian Center for European Studies, Yale University, reading the part of Alexei Berezinsky.

David Tate: Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology and Lecturer in the School of Management, Yale University, reading the part of Roman Zmorich.

Jason Stanley: Jacob Urodsky Professor of Philosophy, Yale University, reading the part of Anatoly Kudlasevich.

Oscar Sweeting: Actor and Writer, Yale College, reading the part of Andrei Proskurin.

Lillian Wenker: Actress, Yale College, reading the part of Polina Zvezdova.

Meridian Monthy: Actress, Yale College, reading the part of Zhanna Lagutina.

Marci Shore: Associate Professor of European Cultural and Intellectual History, Yale University, reading the part of Marina Zolotova.

Human Rights Foundation and Garry Kasparov, Yale University, Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies and director Stephen Naron, David Geffen School of Drama and Dean James Bundy, “Moscow Nights” (New Orleans), “Artists at Risk” and Ivor Stodolski and Marita Mukkonnen, Robert Blazhko.

© Andrei Kureichik 2023