A Belarusian woman became an Italian film star and openly speaks out against Lukashenka's dictatorship

Katsiaryna Shulha. Venice Film Festival, 2017.

When the 12-year-old girl emigrated from Hrodna to Rome in 2005, she knew only two Italian phrases: "Hello" and "Where is the toilet?". Now Katsiaryna Shulha is 32. She has an Italian modeling career behind her, has acted in theater, and starred in dozens of films and TV series. A few years ago, she filmed her own movie about Belarus and became one of the most prominent advocates for her homeland in Italy.

Katsiaryna was born in Hrodna to a teacher and a police officer. However, her parents later divorced. Her childhood was spent in the Dziewiatowka district. When the girl was 10 years old, her mother decided to go to Italy in search of a better life. First, she went alone, "scouting." Katya was raised by her grandparents. Two years later, her mother took her daughter to Ostia, near Rome.

By the way, Katsiaryna's mother is Volha Surynava, an activist of the Belarusian diaspora in Italy. During and after the protests in Belarus, she organized solidarity actions in Rome. In 2024, she became a candidate in the European Parliament elections for the Italian party Più Europa.

"I am participating in the campaign on behalf of Belarusians fighting for democracy," Volha Surynava said at the time. She actively promoted the topic of Belarus during her election campaign. More than a thousand voters cast their ballots for her, but it was not enough to secure a mandate as a Member of the European Parliament.

In the first years of emigration, Katsiaryna Shulha lived in Ostia, near Rome. This is a town on the Mediterranean coast. There she went to an Italian school.

"I spoke French, but not Italian, so I was looked down upon at school. It was the 2000s, jeans with exposed underwear were in fashion, and I wore a buttoned-up blouse, like in Belarus, and thought to myself: how can I live in this country if I don't even know how to cut pizza?" Shulha told the Italian publication Oggi a few years ago.

But the confusion did not last long. While still at school, when she was 15, the girl began collaborating with modeling agencies. Two days a month she shot in Rome for advertisements and fashion magazines. She earned about 800 euros and did not have to ask her mother for money.

The adventure with cinema began quite by chance. Katsiaryna came to a casting for a fashion magazine. In the next room, a casting for a role in a TV series was taking place. They were looking for a blonde with long hair.

"I was sitting in line for my room. A woman walked by and offered me to come in with them. They gave me a script, I read it and immediately felt that I fit. But I had never acted before, I was only 16. I had to play a high school student. They asked me if I knew how to ride a motorcycle, because it was needed for a scene. Like an honest Belarusian, I said yes, we can do anything. Filming was scheduled in 10 days, and I immediately went for motorcycle riding lessons. But when I came to work, I couldn't brake, they had to chase me. But after that, everything went well. Directors recognized me and invited me for other shoots," Katsiaryna said in an interview.

Katsiaryna was invited to appear not only in films but also in music videos. One of the most successful collaborations was with singer Francesco Renga. The music video on YouTube garnered 46 million views.

The music video by Milanese rappers Club Dogo was also successful.

In 2013, Shulha received the "Best Debut Actress" award at the independent auteur cinema festival in Apulia. Ten years later, the Belarusian was invited to be a professional jury member for this festival.

In 2019, she starred in the psychological thriller "The Man in the Labyrinth" alongside Dustin Hoffman and Italian actor Toni Servillo, a favorite of director Paolo Sorrentino, who starred in "The Great Beauty." Shulha names the role of a James Bond girl as her dream role.

Acting brought Shulha together with her future husband, film producer Marco Belardi. In Belarus, many may know his film "Perfect Strangers." It's a comedy about seven friends who gather for dinner and start a game: they read aloud all SMS and social media messages, and put calls on speakerphone. Shulha often emphasizes that her husband had no influence on her career. For the first eight years, she did not star in films produced by her husband. The last film her husband was involved in was precisely the musical film "Dreamland."

Katsiaryna and Marco have three children: son Lorenzo, and twins Nina and Futura. Lorenzo has visited Belarus multiple times, while the daughters were born in 2020. After the largest protests in Belarus's history, Katsiaryna Shulha cannot return to Belarus.

She often emphasizes her Belarusian identity, talks about Lukashenka's dictatorship in interviews, and shares information about events in Belarus on social media. When asked in one of her interviews about the similarities and differences between Belarusians and Italians, Shulha said: "To me, they are very similar. Perhaps Belarusians are initially more cautious — out of respect and politeness, but then both Belarusians and Italians are able to trust very strongly."

In 2021, when Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited Rome, she met with Katsiaryna Shulha.

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Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Katsiaryna Shulha. Rome, 2021.

A year later, the Belarusian woman filmed a documentary "Insultati. Bielorussia" based on a play by Andrei Kureichyk.

Initially, Katsiaryna wanted to stage the play in the theater, but it was during the COVID pandemic. It was difficult to find actors and gather them in Rome. The film turned out to be the only option at the time. Shulha managed to gather well-known actors. According to her, they "did not hesitate for a minute" and immediately agreed to star in the film.

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Poster for the film "Insultati. Bielorussia"

"For me, it's incredibly important to continue informing ordinary people about the true history of the Belarusian people," Katsiaryna said in an interview.

The texts in the film are read by acclaimed Italian actors Luca Argentero, Ambra Angiolini, Stefano Fresi. The film premiered at the Trieste Film Festival. It was also shown in the Italian parliament.

In an interview, Shulha emphasizes that "My Belarus is not Lukashenka's country" and that "Lukashenka does not represent the Belarusian people, because he was never elected."

In 2024, the play "Insultati. Bielorussia" premiered at Rome's Teatro Golden, where Shulha was both director and actress. In this production, she also spoke about her cousin Misha and dedicated the premiere to him.

Mikhail Shavelsky was a Belarusian volunteer in Ukraine, a paramedic in the Belarusian "Terror" battalion. He died on October 11, 2022, during fighting in the Kherson region, between the villages of Bezymyanny and Shchaslyve. The young man was 21 years old. In an interview, Shulha recalled playing with him when they were children. On her Instagram, she posted a picture of herself holding her brother. (Flip to the last photo).

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