Andrei Kureichyk: Abel is the greatest fraud in Belarusian film industry

The future of the ambitious propaganda project is open to question.

The 14th meeting of the Belarusian Union of Film Makers was held in Minsk after a five-year break, which is a violation of the union's charter. Minister of Culture Barys Sviatlou noted that the situation in the Belarusian film industry was “below the waterline”. Eternal problems were discussed at the meeting: what reforms does the Belarusian film industry need, if any? Are there potential reserves?

But most film makers wanted to talk about another problem – the scandal about the film Abel, which was to be an ideological response to the independent movie Viva Belarus, which won international awards. Abel, (the second name We are Brothers) has not been released yet. The much-hyped film that was to be shown at the Berlin Festival did not appear in the programme. Moreover, the future of the ambitious propaganda project is open to question.

Scriptwriter and director Andrei Kureichyk calls Abel the greatest fraud in the history of the Belarusian film industry:

“The national project that has nothing national is something strange. Moreover, they fled to the US with taxpayers' money.”

Will we see the scandalous movie shot on the order of Belarusian propagandists on the screen? Watch the programme Hot Comment on Belsat.