The Salei We Never Knew…

By Georgy Shablyuk

A documentary shot by TV News Agency reporter, Anna Eismont, and Belarusian TV and Radio Company producer, Natalia Zhdanovich, wins bronze at the Baku Sports Film Festival in the ‘Sport and Personality’ category

The film is dedicated to the memory of the Belarusian ice hockey legend, Ruslan Salei, who died in September 2011 in an air disaster near Yaroslavl. The documentary tells of the life of the Belarusian national ice hockey team captain and the most successful Belarusian hockey player in the National Hockey League. During the shooting, Ms. Eismont met Ruslan’s family to learn more about the sportsman from his mother Tamara, sister Anzhela and widow Bethann. The film uses exclusive videos from the Salei family archives, many of which were shot by Ruslan himself. The work also contains the recollections of Ruslan’s friends and teammates. His part in the documentary was performed by his son, Aleksandro.

The 2nd Baku International Sports Film Festival was organised by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ministry of Youth and Sport, in co-operation with the National Olympic Committee. The festival featured 115 films from 33 countries. The awards ceremony took place in Nizami Cinema, with prizes for five categories: ‘Sport and Personality’, ‘Films and TV Shows’, ‘Feature Film’, ‘Sport and World’, and ‘National Film’.