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89 MILLIMETRES is a film about the coming of age of a post-soviet generation in a young nation that is torn apart between stagnation, protest and departure.
89 MILLIMETRES is the difference that the railway tracks in Belarus are wider than elsewhere in
Europe. No big difference. But coming to Belarus, situated right beyond the border of the new
European Union, opens the gate to another world. Some say, Belarus is home to the last dictatorship
in Europe.
Sebastian Heinzel, 25, a young filmmaker from Berlin, traces the small and big differences in the
young country right beyond the Polish border. Like most „Westerners“, the filmmaker hardly knows
anything about life in nearby Belarus when he decides to work on the project. Belarus is the only
European country still executing death penalties. Here we find the control room of Europe?s
supposedly last dictator Alexander Lukashenko who reigns since he bluntly deprived parliament of
power in 1994 to proclaim a presidential republic. The German author and his cameraman who hails
from Russia take the train to Minsk, capital of Belarus. They dare the trip to find out how free people of their own age really are in this country. They meet
Slava, a political refugee, Alexander and his fellow resistance fighters from Zubr (“Bison”), Pavel,
a house painter who only recently was released from jail, Olga, a Go-Go-dancer, Ludmilla, a young
journalist without any prospects and Igor, a patriotic soldier devoted to his country. The meetings
with this selection of characters in Minsk and their attempts to live their lives under the pressure of a
dictatorship paint an atmospheric picture of snapshots and deep insights into the everyday life in
Belarus. 89 MILLIMETRES is a portrait of young people coming of age in an Eastern European
country that lies in the midst of its throes of childbirth.
At the Belarussian border, the train has to stop to have its wheels changed. The film starts with this
scene of changing the wheels, and, at the same time, the filmcrew enters a new world: The filmmaker
starts looking for the people of this country. He wants to find out how young folks of his own age
experience a dictatorship in their everyday lives. The different gauge of the railway tracks in East and
West serves as a metaphor for societal differences. In the tense life of a violent regime the filmmaker
is fascinated how young adults of his own generation design and live their lives. Over the period of
one year, the filmcrew travelled five times to Minsk and thus established a very special form of
confidence with their protagonists which is manifested in the intimacy of some situations.
89 MILLIMETRES is a piece of extraordinary camera work and storytelling. The author serves as a
connecting element between the six protagonists for he is acting from the perspective of the
audience. Like most Westerners, he never had to ask himself existential questions about resistance or
revolution. He does not know too much about Belarus in the beginning and therefore has the freedom
to experience. His „western naivety“ and his search for dictatorial traces in everyday life structure the
film. Only 89 MILLIMETRES away from his own socialization, he is able to „measure“ differences
and common ground with the western way of life independently and without any prejudice.
In some cases, however, the film team gets involved in the action to a degree that almost turns the
director into a protagonist. It can be quite amusing when Heinzel, being a polite guest, cannot say
“no” to testing the 70% Vol. moonshine of protagonist Igor?s grandmother. Or when the filmcrew
helps the resistance fighters of ZUBR to hide material from the militia. Towards the end of the film
even a dream comes true for the director. Together with Pavel, the house painter, he takes the
chance to jump out of a plane with old soviet parachutes. Fun that only costs 15 US-Dollars.
Every
15th person, however, breaks his leg at these parachute jumps. Above the clouds, though, all
differences between East and West get equalized: „We all jump into an uncertain future.”
89 MILLIMETRES is an independent low budget production. The film has been shot on DV CAM and
has been treated with an exquisite colour correction. Appraisal from international festivals at this point
is considerable. In November 2004 the film has been awarded a “Special Mention of the Jury” at 21st
Kassel Documentary Film Fest. “7th One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival”
taking place in Prague in April 2005 under the auspices of Vaclav Havel has selected the film for its
official programme, and Amnesty International is currently preparing a special tour taking the film to
selected cinemas throughout Germany.
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