LISTY
Poland, Lithuania, Germany
2026 | 75 min. | Documentary

LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY 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.

Directed by: Andrei Kutsila
Written by: Andrei Kutsila
Produced by: Miroslaw Dembinski, Giedrė Žickytė, Gregor Streiber, Friedemann Hottenbacher
Cinematography: Wojciech Węglarz, Anonymous
Editing: Piotr Ogiński
Original Score: Paulius Kilbauskas, Vygintas Kisevičius
Sound: Saulius Urbanavičius
Animation: Natalia Spychała
Protagonists: Andrei Astapovich, Kasia Budzko, Vitold Ashurak, Volha Bykouskaja

Statement of the director:
I was forced to leave Belarus five years ago, after the protests against the falsification of the presidential elections were violently suppressed. I know the stories of those imprisoned by the regime firsthand. My sister was one of them – she was arrested, and she still cannot forget the screams of people being tortured every night. This is not a story of the past. The repression continues. Almost every day, someone is arrested, someone is sentenced – often without public knowledge. Through my film, I want to give voice to those who cannot speak – Belarusians living in a silenced country.

Production:
DocEdu Foundation
https://docedu.eu/en/
World Sales:
Filmotor
https://filmotor.com/