"They asked about foreign financing." Director Andrei Kudinenko spoke about searches, the KGB, and fleeing without a passport

"You're sleeping, and they start banging on the door"

Security forces came to Andrei Kudinenko's place on Wednesday morning, July 22. According to the director, instead of ringing the doorbell, they immediately began banging loudly and shouting.

"You're sleeping, and they start banging on the door. Not ringing – immediately banging and shouting. I didn't understand anything, still half-asleep. I looked through the peephole, and they shone a light in my eyes, it said "OMON," they yelled: "Police!" he told "Belsat."

When Kudinenko opened the door, eight OMON officers and two KGB officers stormed into the apartment. The director was handcuffed.

"They flew in, sat me down, I was in my underwear, they handcuffed me. I was naked for half a day until they took me to the office. Didn't eat, didn't drink," he says.

First, the security forces searched the apartment for several hours. Then Kudinenko was allowed to get dressed, handcuffed again, and taken to the film school premises.

According to Andrei, the search warrant stated the search was for "extremist documents" and symbols. KGB officers also inquired about possible foreign financing of the school.

The director claims that "KinaKalaydar" existed solely on student fees, officially concluded agreements, and paid taxes.

"We worked cleanly, everything was legitimate. We survived only on those who paid for tuition. We had no foreign funding," he says.

The security forces were interested, among other things, in the school's attempt to get support from UNESCO. However, according to the director, the school never received any money from the organization.

"I say: UNESCO is not an extremist organization. And we didn't receive any money from them. I actually found information about this opportunity at 'Belarusfilm'," Kudinenko recounts.

During the searches, no prohibited symbols or evidence of illegal financing were found either in the apartment or at the school, he claims. Nevertheless, according to the director, the security forces immediately made it clear that the school would no longer operate. They threatened him with 8 to 12 years of imprisonment.

"They hadn't even started the search, and they were already telling the neighbors that we were extremists. I told them it was a lie, that we only engaged in teaching and art," says Kudinenko.

The director named two KGB officers whom he claims participated in the searches: Lopatin and Milavanau. Kudinenko states that both are senior lieutenants.

Павялічыць

They came the day after the school's re-registration

The "KinaKalaydar" film school had been operating for about three years. Initially, Kudinenko was its initiator and lecturer; later, he became a co-owner. When the former director faced problems with the security forces, the director bought out her share, re-registered the institution under his name, and became the sole owner and director.

The day after the registration was completed, the security forces came to him.

"Celebrated one day, worked one day — and that's it," Kudinenko noted ironically.

During the search, which lasted about 15 hours, officers confiscated the school documents that the director had just managed to process. They also took his phone, passport, and bank card.

Kudinenko was not made to sign a non-departure agreement. However, according to him, it was obvious that the persecution would continue.

"I decided I had to do something, because they wouldn't leave me alone," he explained his decision to leave the country.

The school employed about five lecturers; their number varied depending on the courses. They taught directing, screenwriting, acting, animation, organized lectures, and film workshops.

A separate direction was the CHRONOTOP project, which Kudinenko has been developing since 2013. Its participants created short films in a short time and almost without a budget, primarily on themes of contemporary mythology. Kudinenko emphasizes that the project was not political.

According to the director, the very fact that the school called itself independent aroused suspicion among KGB officers.

"The main complaint was: you consider yourselves independent. Independent of whom? For them, anything independent immediately means bad and extremist," Kudinenko recounts.

The security forces also asked why he didn't apply for permission and funding from the Ministry of Culture.

"I say: and who gives money there? Nobody gives it," the director answered them.

Павялічыць

"Engaging in simple art is no longer possible without permission"

According to Kudinenko, after 2020, the school tried to act as cautiously as possible: avoiding publicity and gathering a narrow circle of people who wanted to study and make films.

"At first, people were afraid even to meet. Then little by little they started talking, doing something, watching movies together. Someone thought that five or six years would pass and times would change," says the director.

However, now, in his opinion, even non-political cultural activity in Belarus is perceived by the state as a threat.

"Engaging in simple art is no longer possible without permission. Everything requires permission and the eye of an observer," says Kudinenko.

According to him, problems have recently arisen for other non-state film schools as well. Some of them have closed, moved online, or canceled their programs.

"We were the last ones left," the director claims.

The premises of "KinaKalaydar" were not sealed after the search, but the security forces prohibited holding classes.

"I asked if I should immediately go and close the school. They replied: 'For now, we'll see.' But classes — that's it, no classes," Kudinenko recounts.

He believes that the authorities will find a formal reason to liquidate the institution.

"I am the sole owner and director. They will now invent something, some case. It was immediately said that we would not work," says the director.

The director calls the film school his mission and a space where people could not only learn to make films but also think freely.

Павялічыць

"For three years, I dedicated myself only to this, spending all my time and all my money on it. I wanted to create a creative territory for art, for thinking. But it turned out to be unnecessary," says Kudinenko.

Emigration is something Kudinenko is already familiar with. After his film "Occupation. Mysteries" was banned in 2005, the director was forced to leave Belarus and lived and worked in other countries for almost ten years.

"I know what an emigrant's bread is like. It's not very easy. We were all like samurais there — ready for death to come. But you always hope that you'll get through, that you'll be able to run between these currents," says Andrei Kudinenko.

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