Consent to be obtained for showing and shooting movies


The Belarusian Ministry of Culture takes control of the film industry. It will affect journalists as well.

Certificate for filming

The Belarusian Ministry of Culture takes control of the film industry. It will affect journalists as well.  

“Film production in the territory of the Republic of Belarus <…> is to be carried out with a certificate issued by the Ministry of Culture or its authorized organization (s) in accordance with the law on administrative procedures in the form prescribed by the Ministry of Culture,” said the draft decree of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

The document, which is to enter into force on 1 January 2016 was found by an independent filmmaker Andrei Kureichyk and published on the Internet.

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Andrei Kureichyk

No permission — no screening   

Certificate from the Ministry will not be obligatory only for films created with state support or with government agencies or television channels. An exception will also be made for amateur films, but only for those authors who do not plan to show their films publicly or publish them online.

The rest will have to go all the steps of the Belarusian bureaucracy. The certificate will be required for all other films – regardless of the timing and number of episodes. Lack of certificate means a ban on the production of the movie. The Ministry of Culture decides whether or not the film will be made.

Three months to get a decision

How? First you will need to bring or send a script or a description of the future film. Several expert committees then check whether there are elements of pornography, incitement to violence and cruelty, incitement to extremist activity, and so on. And only after 3 months (!) it will be known if the movie can be made or not. Knowing the level of the Belarusian state ideology and vigilance of officials one can expect that they will sift it through the sieve very carefully.

And if, nevertheless, you will be allowed to film, you will need to pay – and even before the first take. First you have to pay a special state fee – in the amount of 1-20 basic units, ie. from 180 thousands up to 3,600 thousand rubles. Only then will you get the coveted certificate of the legality of your actions.

Director as a criminal

And if there is no permit, “legal and natural persons, including individual entrepreneurs engaged in the production of films in the territory of the Republic of Belarus without the certificate <…> shall be liable in accordance with the legislation,” the document warns.

The authors of the draft are not yet ready to say what the responsibility is. Representatives of the Office of the Ministry of Culture and filmvideoart ‘would not discuss a non-existent document’, tut.by journalists learned.

Stimulation as execution?

Next week, a special commission is to consider a draft decree under the eloquent title “On some issues of film production in the Republic of Belarus and encouraging development of cinema industry”. However, director Andrei Kureichyk sounds the alarm today:

“After this decree there will be no more independent cinema in this country,” – this is how he envisions the future of the industry that the state is planning to “encourage”.

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Janush Gavrylyuk 

Another view is held by Janush Gavrylyuk – director, operator and founder of the Warsaw Film Festival of the Belarusian movies called Bulbamovie, which each year gathers more and more independent film artists with their films.

“There used to be one independent, illegal movie “Occupation of Mystery”. Starting from the New Year, all independent Belarusian movies will be marked illegal, since I believe that no one will ask for the absurd certificate. In terms of PR the situation is excellent. Belarusian movies are increasingly appearing at international festivals. You can always add to the film description that in addition to it being a great movie, it is illegal in Belarus, says Gavrylyuk.  The second useful result can be the emergence in Belarus of more illegal Belarusian film screenings. There will be a trend – new illegal Belarusian cinema. People will be interested in watching domestic, illegal movies of young Belarusian directors.

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It’s actually very possible. However, at first the young, independent journalists certainly will attract attention of the law enforcement agencies, security services and all kinds of guards. Any police officer seeing a man with the camera will be able, in full compliance with the law, to demand the respective certificate.

Also, currently the security forces and undercover agents demand such documents (accreditation and registration), pursuing independent journalists – and journalists of Belsat. Naturally, obtaining such documents borders on miracle, and you cannot work without them. So far, the said man with a camera in hand has been able to explain that he is shooting a film rather than reportage (because to do so he must have accreditation). If the new decree enters into force, then he would have to look for a certificate that his film is approved for shooting.

And using this journalistic and film analogy we can again only advise Belarusian officials to go down this path more consistently. The next step could be “to stimulate writing” by issuing a license to writing of books. So that without the approval of the project and getting permit it would be impossible even to collect materials – for example, to collect information in the archives and meet with the characters.

The officials would also be able to  put things in order with brazen writers who frequently say that they are not preparing a report for the dissident edition, but only writing books … It would be enough just to ask for the relevant license and everything would be cleared up.

Sounds absurd? And certificate giving the right to make movies doesn’t?

cez, belsat.eu/en/

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