Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus

★★★★ 'rousing, urgent viewing' Time Out
'astonishing' Indiewire

Director Q&A - Fri 28 Mar, 8.40pm
Join us at the opening screening for a Q&A with the director Madeleine Sackler.

In a context in which a mighty state like Russia can be threatened by a punk band, Madeleine Sackler’s account of a year in the life of a small, radical Belarusian theatre company is both timely and inspiring.

Founded in 2005 by Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin, and constantly persecuted by the country’s harshly authoritarian government, the Belarus Free Theatre resolutely uses drama as a form of protest. Following footage of the violence meted out to demonstrators after President Lukashenko won a third term in blatantly rigged elections, we see the group’s members being smuggled to the UK and USA, where they subsequently stage their productions in exile. In making this film, Sackler and her team also risked their own safety, further underlining the political dimensions of the creative spirit.

Comprised of smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, Dangerous Acts gives audiences a front row seat to a resistance movement as it unfolds both on the stage and in the streets. As the members of the Free Theatre confront the choice of either repression at home or exile in the US and the UK, Dangerous Acts reconfirms our belief that the power of art and hope can indeed change the world.