Kira Muratava’s film was excluded from cinema festival “Listapad” programme. Because of Lukashenka?

The order of the Ministry of Culture to exclude the movie of Kira Muratava “Two in One” from the programme of the cinema festival “Listapad” came out of the blue. In the movie, there are about 30 seconds of Aliaksandar Lukashenka’s New Year address to the Belarusian people. At that moment the characters of the movie are watching TV and the character of Bogdan Stupka (famous and esteemed Ukrainian actor) says: “h-h-handsome man!”

We told Belarusian cinema critic Maxim Zhbankou the movie had been excluded from the programme. The news made Maxim laugh. He said: “Finally Batka made his debut in cinema, even though not in the Belarusian.” “Euroradio” learnt behind the scenes that Kira Muratava’s movie was reconsidered and excluded from the festival because of these words.

The cinema critic calls “Two in One” “a typical Muratava’s surrealistic movie.”

“This is a typical Muratava’s surrealistic movie. The structure reminds of her previous work “Three Stories,” but here there are two stories - two plots with mutual characters. In the first, the action takes place in a theater where a young actor hung himself in a duke’s costume. Renata Litvinova wrote the second story’s script; this is a new-years phantasmagoria of three characters where an adult daughter of a senior erotomaniac invites her friend to please her father who is convinced he has finally met the woman of his life. So, this is such an absurd buffoonery that Muratava is good at. This is neither a flop, nor a sensation. But I am positive, Muratava’s movie would be one of the brightest at the festival,” the critic said.

The organizers of the festival haven’t contacted Muratava yet, which they are happy with. Now they won’t have to apologize and look for an explanation why “Two in One” was excluded from the “Listapad” programme.

“The character says “h-h-handsome man!” Such an ordinary phrase. They must have found it insulting for the president or the Republic of Belarus… And hence it was excluded from the programme last week. The Ministry of Culture was alarmed; they even got in touch with the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture. When they watched the movie, nothing seditious was noticed. And now these articles on the Internet… We’re shocked. We tried to get the movie back, but failed,” the organizers say.

Kira Muratava’s admirers will of course see the movie without the festival. Thank God, it wasn’t listed as a movie banned from distribution.