By Yuri Pinchuk
Directed by Sergey Loznitsa, the film is based on Vasil Bykov’s book of the same name and has already won a special prize at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival. Film critic Andrey Plakhov has noted ‘nothing especially earth-shattering or unpatriotic’ in Loznitsa’s latest work, calling it ‘an existential drama on the partisan theme’. Loznitsa’s last film, My Happiness, received mixed reviews in Russia. However, In the Fog has now received the highest prize at the 22nd International Golden Hero Slavic Cinema Forum.
The Belarusian-Russian-Polish film wasn’t the only representative of Belarusian cinematography to be awarded. David-Gorodokskie Canons, directed by Alexandra Shpartova, won gold for ‘upcoming and student works’ while Golden Wedding, by Vladimir Dashuk, received silver in the full-length documentary nomination. The Belarusian film Bright Falcon, directed by Irina Kodyukova, took bronze in the animated film category. The international jury awarded golden, silver and bronze prizes in each of seven nominations, while the Grand Prix was presented to the best film of the competition: In the Fog.
In all, 18 Belarusian films were screened at the event: within the main contest and in the out-of-competition programme. People’s Artist of Belarus Vladimir Gostyukhin also organised a ‘retrospective’ of his films.
