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"Long Knives/Reporting From a Rabbit Hutch" Review |
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CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY
Victor Dashuk
MPAA RATING
NR (Graphic Scenes of Violence)
RUNNING TIME
Long Knives Knight, 56 mins.;
Reporting From a Rabbit Hutch,
40 Mins.
DISTRIBUTED BY
Seminal Films (DVD, May 18, 2010 release)
DVD FEATURES
Raw video files, heavily accented subtitles
RETURN TO "L" ARCHIVE
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There will likely be better produced documentaries released on home video this year than Seminal Films' release of Belarusan filmmaker Victor Dashuk's Long Knives Night and Reporting From a Rabbit Hutch.
It is unlikely that you will see a less angry documentary.
Dashuk risked imprisonment and abuse to create these two "short" documentaries, presented together, astonishing portrayals of the rise to power of Alexander Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus. If you think that Michael Moore is angry, think again. There isn't an American documentarian working with the sense of rage that possesses Dashuk in both films.
Long Knives Knight chronicles the anti-constitutional coup of 1996 in Belarus, a coup during which Lukashenko seizes control of virtually all opposition by blocking voting, turning riot police loose in a bloody rampage on protesters and even locking elected legislators out of their own offices. These are attrocities that are not seen in the American media, at least not in any mainstream American media. Yet, with precision and clarity Dashuk has caught onscreen through live footage, previously unseen archival footage, forbidden footage and citizen interviews the devastating force of this totalitarian regime upon its people.
Reporting From a Rabbit Hutch takes the political reality of Belarus and makes it a personal reality. Dashuk graphically presents unfathomable violence against innocent Belarussians, some protesting and some simply finding themselves at odds with Lukashenko. Those who oppose the regime, including Dashuk himself, live their lives aware that immediate repercussions are to be expected.
Long Knives Knight was originally filmed in 1999, Reporting From a Rabbit Hutch in 2001 before debuting together in New York in 2006. After an extended film festival run, including the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, they are being released on home video on May 18, 2010. For more information on the DVD release, visit the Seminal Films website. The film will also be available on Netflix.
Victor Dashuk has risked his life to tell the truth of the place he calls home. The least we can do is pay attention.
© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
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