Dangerous Acts
Director: Madeleine Sackler
Rating: 4/5
2014 has already been an exciting year for documentary film lovers, and Dangerous Acts is another must see film.
If you are a fan of this genre than the latest offering from director Madeleine Sackler is a film that is not to be missed.
I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this film, but it was a movie that left me with my jaw on the table.
Creating provocative theatre carries great personal risks: emotional, financial, and artistic. For the members of the Belarus Free Theatre, there are additional risks: censorship, imprisonment, and worse.
The film picks up the story in 2010 when the KGB is cracking down on dissenters, sixteen years after Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko takes power during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Now, as a dubious new presidential election looms, the KGB targets the Free Theatre’s founders Nikolai Khalezin and Natalia Koliada who, along with their colleagues, find themselves torn between fighting for their art and for their and their families’ safety.
I didn't know anything about the politics of Belarus, and so this was a movie that really did open my eyes to the suppression and the repression that currently runs riot in this country.
Dangerous Acts is one of those vital documentaries, the shows the world as it really is: even if that is difficult to watch and comprehend.
Director Madeleine Sackler and those involved in the movie should be applauded for their bravery and frankness in making a movie like this.
Dangerous Acts is a movie of great power, as we follow a group of people who are determined to have their say and stand up for what they believe in.
It is hard to believe that Sackler filmed this over Skype and never set foot in Belarus during the filming process, as this is a movie that really is beautifully shot.
Sackler takes us into the lives of a handful of the members of Belarus Free Theatre, and what they stand to lose should they be caught or arrested.
Given everything that has happened in the Ukraine over the last few weeks, this is a documentary that carries even more power.
From start to finish, Dangerous Acts takes us behind the curtain of dictatorship and repression and how nothing will change if people are unwilling to act and fight back.
This is a truly compelling watch about people who just want a better life for themselves and their families.
Dangerous Acts is released 28th March.