2026  ·  Poland, Germany, Lithuania  ·  Documentary

Listy (Letters from the Silenced Country)

STATUS: Completed

Listy (Letters from the Silenced Country)

  • 2026
  • Poland, Germany, Lithuania
  • Documentary
  • Belarusian, Russian, Polish
  • English
  • 75 mins
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Listy is a portrait of contemporary Belarus told through stories of individuals who have endured imprisonment, repression, and exile – voices silenced by an autocratic regime. Each story reveals a distinct experience of repression. A father hides from surveillance to avoid arrest and separation from his daughter. A former criminal investigator chooses to leave the system, flees Belarus, and in exile in Poland faces repeated interrogations and a growing sense of deadlock and powerlessness. Kasia, a young student sentenced for protesting, survives through drawing, using her art to preserve a sense of self and to express what cannot be openly said. We also meet 50-year-old Vitold, whose story unfolds through photographs sent by a friend from home – carefully selected fragments of a world beyond the prison walls, offering him moments of freedom while exploring not only what can be seen, but also what remains unseen. Combining observational footage, archival and found materials, testimonies, and animation based on drawings created in confinement, the film transforms private correspondence into a cinematic space of intimacy, dignity, and reflection, raising questions about sacrifice, solidarity, and the human cost of resistance in a silenced country.

Credits

Director
Andrei Kutsila
Writer
Andrei Kutsila
Producer
Mirosław Dembiński, Giedré Žickytė, Gregor Streiber, Friedemann Hottenbacher

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