Under the Hood

Under the Hood brings us on a journey through a country where the secret police are still known as the KGB and assembling in public to do nothing is considered a crime.

The film takes us from the protests and secret opposition meetings of the capital, Minsk, to the horse-drawn carts and hand-tilled fields of the countryside. Along the way, we follow the stories of ordinary Belarusians who speak about their lives and aspirations.

They include Yuri, an apolitical businessman who finds himself drawn increasingly by the opposition movement. Meanwhile, opposition leader Franak finds that the years he’s spent battling the regime have taken their toll. Independent journalists Viktor and Eduard do their work anticipating the fateful knock on the door, the hand on their shoulder.

In Belarus, to remain impartial is to take sides. At the other end of the spectrum is Lyudmila, a villager who loves her family and her country. She supports President Alexander Lukashenko, though she cares little for politics. These stories, of normality punctuated by bureaucracy and occasional brutality, remind us how close Belarus is to the rest of Europe – and how very far away.