COOL (News from Belarus) [FULL ZINE 2023]

[With Belarusian, Russian and Spanish subtitles] In this cinematic zine, directors scattered all over the world adapt to screen hilarious and poignant Belarusian news stories. Featuring phone thieves, TikTok storks, the tiniest castle in the world, and victims of the depression epidemic. *WINNER OF THE AUDIENCE VOTE AT NORTHERN LIGHTS IFF 2023* The Directors: Golden Bear Winner Radu Jude Golden Leopard Nominee Pierre Léon The Godfather of Belarusian Doom Metal/Belarusian Cinema Konchenyy Lesley Knife The-Worst-Director-in-the-History-of-Sundance-according-to-Harvey-Weinstein Ari Gold Father-Son Directing Duo Pavel & Timur Nedzvedz German-Ukrainian-Actress-Debuting-as-Director Tamara Granatkina American-Actress-Debuting-as-Director Michelle G. Stratton Curator/Critic/Filmmaker Christopher Small Videoartist Antos Sivyh Cartoonist Waja Shchipko Cartoonist Aglaya Yunova Creator of Viral YouTube Comedy Andrey Kashpersky Artdocfest Prizewinners Viktor Lebedev & Anna Den Spirit of Fire Prizewinners Masha Herz & Osman Nabiev Librarian & Cinephile Victoria Zenchuk Minsk International Film Festival Listapad Screenings Record-Holder Ihar Chyshchenia Director Who Doesn’t Direct Yulya Astrovskaya The Most Konchenyy Director of Them All Nikita Lavretski With special on-screen appearances by Weezer’s Brian Bell, The Tarantino Gang’s Craig Stark, Tыrmenatr 4’s Ilja Bozhko, My Dear Spies’ Vladimir Léon and [REDACTED] as himself in his cinematic debut. Editor’s (Nikita Lavretski) Statement: I wanted to showcase the work of all the cool, creative, inspiring artists adjacent to the Belarusian Film Konchenyy (aka Belarusian Hopeless Cinema, Belarusian Fucked-Up Cinema) movement. Because of the economic conditions we found ourselves in, we have nothing left to prove and nothing left to lose—and that’s where the most exciting things happen. In the first issue of the zine, the directors will bring to the screen the craziest and most poignant news articles from 2022, written by one of the last independent journalists working in Belarus Anton Serenkov. Many of the Belarusian directors were forced to emigrate in recent years, so this collection will also occasionally showcase the various creative ways they discovered when trying to recreate their lost motherland in film. Of course, anyone can be a Belarusian Konchenyy director: in the first issue we’ve got the Golden Bear winner Radu Jude who’s actually never set foot in Belarus despite being inspired by Belarusian storks; and Pierre Leon (Golden Leopard nominee) who saw in Belarus a fairytale oasis in the middle of Europe. Still, most of the auteurs are authentically Belarusian. I could spend a few more pages hyping up all of my idols who graciously agreed to participate in the zine! All I hope for is that the viewers may discover just one contributor who they can next fawn over, like I already do.