The Belarusian film festival «Listapad» is coming to an end. There are very few unreleased films left, and the closing of the festival will take place in two days. We continue to write about the films we have watched.

Main Competition

The main competition continues to disappoint. It feels like all the most significant films of the festival have been shown, leaving only filler entries from the main competition for the last days. Fatigue is also taking over journalists and jury members: cinematic works no longer surprise with their innovation, leaving mixed feelings after viewing. However, it is still impossible to predict who will win the main competition: a large number of films touching on similar themes, although they allow some attempt to forecast the main awards, it is too inaccurate and unlikely to be true.

«Inner Glow»

Single mother Sylvia learns late about her terminal illness. This becomes a reason to quickly find people who can raise her six-year-old daughter. Will the woman find help in a crumbling world, or will she leave the child completely alone?

«Inner Glow» is a Venezuelan film that offers a new perspective on the image of a «broken» heroine. It is another entry from the main competition of «Listapad» that gives an idea of the life of a lonely woman in the modern world. Previous ones («My Night», «Seven Little Coincidences») explored this topic from a similar angle: the focus was on experiences related to the past that are reflected in the present.

Perhaps the uniformity of these works is the main problem of the main competition of «Listapad». Despite the presence of certain distinctive features in each film, you get the impression that you are watching the same movie: life in the heroines' view is a dangerous and lost space from which only human communication helps to escape.

«Inner Glow» has its own problems. The directors of the film tried so hard to create its form that important plot elements were lost. You don't want to empathize with the characters, and the monotonous dialogues about the meaning of life start to put you to sleep.

It is also evident that the film was chasing festival awards: at the center is the already studied conflict of fathers and children, which, it seems, will not stop working, wrapped in a beautiful shell of arthouse cinema. However, there can be no talk of festival prizes here. «Inner Glow» appears as something distant from our reality, capable of reaching only a select few.

«Young Cinema» Competition

Unexpectedly, the «Young Cinema» competition continues to amaze with its quality. The films selected for the program are not inferior in quality to the works from the main showcase, and sometimes even surpass them. And new ways of storytelling turn the competition into a real event: it is interesting to observe not only the forms in which the films are made, but also their main themes, as well as the geography of the represented countries. An incredibly curated program of «delicacies» from almost all five continents is the best thing that could have happened to «Listapad» this year.

«Lulu»

Little girl Lulu lives with her parents in the countryside. The family has its own farm, which becomes one of their sources of income. Lulu loves animals very much — this becomes her main gift. The girl's father says she can heal even the sickest animals, including cows that barely give milk. As an adult, the girl fondly recalls the events of days long gone, and characters from childhood haunt her in her dreams.

«Lulu» is one of those films from the adult competitions that could easily have been shown in the children's film program. Apart from smoking on screen, there is nothing that could harm young viewers, and the themes raised in the film seem relevant for any age. This very «young» film immerses you in the atmosphere of carefree childhood, posing a number of pressing questions about attitudes toward ecology and animals on our Earth. In the image of a little girl trying to stop many adults from eating animals, one can see traits of activist Greta Thunberg. Love for animals here goes to extremes: the girl sets off on a long journey with her sister to help her father with the crumbling farm.

«Lulu» is also a film about first feelings that arise at a very young age. The restless girl falls in love with a quiet boy who considers their relationship something frivolous. Already in adulthood, they meet again: it turns out that the boy hardly remembered his girlfriend's appearance, but learned her unusual name Lulu. «Lulu – you are the one and only in the whole world,» — these words end the film, which inspires adventure, immersing you in the atmosphere of the most important time in our lives — childhood.

Out-of-Competition Program

As part of the out-of-competition program, the premiere of one of the most important films of this year took place. The new film by Romanian director Radu Jude was presented at a characteristic time, fully corresponding to its title: «Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn» is made exclusively for adults (actually not!), so it will be shown at night. In general, the release of such a film in Belarusian distribution is surprising: the director's previous film was extremely close to the events that took place after the elections in Belarus, and the new one was initially banned from distribution in all CIS countries.

«Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn»

The winner of the Berlin Film Festival «Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn» is one of the most unexpected films of this year, which will remain in the memory of many viewers for a long time. Romanian Radu Jude made a black comedy about modernity that mocks the history of his native Romania, as well as many modern sins. And somehow he won the main prize of a popular contemporary festival.

At the center of the story is a schoolteacher whose porn videos accidentally ended up online, and later were seen by students and their parents, which influenced the organization of a school meeting. There, the main question will be decided: will the teacher stay or leave the school due to public outrage?

Dividing the entire story into several parts, including a prologue and three epilogues, Jude created an «encyclopedia» of his style. In «Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn» there is a separate chapter representing a dictionary of the creator, where the interpretation of concepts of the world is given from the director's perspective, including the word «cinema». It turns out that for the Romanian, «cinema» is a copper shield that struck down the Gorgon Medusa. Frankness and lack of fear are the main features of Jude's cinema, a director who managed to predict the main trends of this cinematic year quite accurately back in February.