Filmotor acquires Letters From the Silenced Country ahead of Venice premiere

Filmotor has boarded world sales on “Letters From the Silenced Country,” a partly animated documentary by Belarusian writer-director Andrei Kutsila, just days before its world premiere in Venice. The film, which screens in the Venice Open – Out of Competition strand, uses personal letters, diaries, and testimonies to chart life under Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule. Kutsila, who left Belarus in 2021 after facing harassment for his earlier work, shot much of the footage clandestinely and smuggled digital files out of the country.

This is the latest creative work to be targeted by Lukashenko’s regime. Since mass protests erupted in 2020 over a disputed election, authorities have jailed independent journalists, banned opposition media, and forced dozens of filmmakers and artists into exile. Kutsila himself was blacklisted, his earlier film “The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov” banned in Belarus. The new documentary connects private letters—some written by jailed activists—to broader patterns of repression, including forced disappearances and police violence.

The film blends rotoscoped animation with verité footage, giving voice to Belarusians who remain inside the country. One sequence follows a teacher who was fired for refusing to join pro-regime rallies; another profiles a young mother whose husband is serving a prison sentence for social media posts. Critics who have seen early cuts call it a rare, intimate record of resistance under surveillance.

Filmotor will now pitch the title to international buyers ahead of its September 5 Venice screening. Kutsila says he hopes the film will reach audiences beyond film festivals, including Belarusian diaspora groups and human-rights organizations. With Lukashenko’s regime tightening control ahead of a 2025 election, the documentary arrives at a moment when documenting dissent has never been more dangerous—or more necessary.