LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY

Press & Industry Screening: Wednesday, 9 Sept | 09:00 | Sala Corinto
World Premiere: Wednesday, 9 Sept | 17:15 | Sala Corinto
Screenings: www.labiennale.org

72 Min. / Poland, Lithuania, Germany / documentary

Trailer:

Director Andrei Kutsila is available for interviews.

LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY (Listy) by writer-director Andrei Kutsila is world premiering at the Venice International Film Festival 2026. The partly animated documentary, screening in the Venice Open section, is a portrait of contemporary Belarus told through stories of individuals who have endured imprisonment, repression, and exile – voices silenced by an autocratic regime.

Following Belarus’s unprecedented peaceful protests in 2020, the regime’s violent crackdown left many dead, injured, imprisoned, or forced into exile. The war in Ukraine triggered further anti-war resistance and even harsher repression, making public dissent nearly impossible. Against this backdrop, letters became one of the few remaining connections between political prisoners and the outside world, revealing stories of pain, love, despair, and hope.

Structured in chapters, LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY interweaves letters, essays, and testimonies from those living in hiding, in exile, or under constant threat. Combining observational footage, personal archives, surveillance materials, police recordings, found footage, and animation inspired by drawings created in confinement, it recontextualizes the instruments of oppression through intimate correspondence.

The film transforms private stories into a cinematic space of dignity, intimacy, and reflection, revealing the human cost of resistance and exploring themes of sacrifice, solidarity, and survival in a country where dissenting voices have been silenced.

SYNOPSIS
When the streets are quiet and people are afraid to even discuss politics in Belarus, letters can give us an insight into the feelings of pain, despair, love, and hope.
Each story reveals a different facet of repression. A father lives in hiding, evading surveillance to avoid arrest and separation from his daughter. A former criminal investigator breaks with the system, flees Belarus, and, in exile in Poland, faces repeated interrogations and an increasing sense of isolation and powerlessness. Kasia, a young student imprisoned for her participation in protests, turns to drawing as a means of survival – preserving her identity and expressing what cannot be spoken openly. Fifty-year-old Vitold’s story unfolds through photographs sent by a friend from home: carefully chosen fragments of a life beyond prison walls that offer moments of freedom while revealing both what is visible and what remains hidden.

Andrei Kutsila is a Belarusian documentary filmmaker based in Poland. He earned a degree in Journalism from the Belarusian State University in 2007 and graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in 2009. His documentaries have been screened and awarded at major international festivals, including IDFA, DOK Leipzig, Hot Docs, and the Krakow Film Festival. His documentary Summa (2018) won the IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary, followed by the Silver Hobby-Horse for Best Documentary in the National Competition at the Krakow Film Festival in 2019. When Flowers Are Not Silent (2021) received the Best Feature Documentary Award at the Warsaw Film Festival. Forced to leave Belarus after the 2020 protests, Kutsila settled in Poland, where he continued his artistic development through an internship at the Łódź Film School. Over the past five years, his work has focused primarily on documenting the experiences of Belarusians living under repression and in exile.

LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY is produced by DocEdu Foundation (Poland) in co-production with Moonmakers (Lithuania), and inselfilm produktion (Germany).
Supported by Polish Film Institute, Lithuanian Film Center, Connected Foundation. In co-production with TVP, EC1 – Lodz City of Culture, ZDF. In collaboration with ARTE, Deutsche Welle.
The project participated in development programs: Young Europe, B2B, Ex Oriente, East Doc, Doc Leipzig Co-Pro Market, Movies That Metter, MDAG Industry, Watch Docs.

Production Company:
DocEduFoundation
office@docedu.eu
www.docedu.eu

World Sales:
Filmotor
michaela@filmotor.com
www.filmotor.com

©/CREDITS:

Stills: © DocEduFoundation