Film Screening: 'Under The Grey Sky'

In commemoration of the fourth anniversary of Belarus's fraudulent 2020 presidential elections and the protests that followed, the Davis Center together with Belarusians of Boston and New England will screen Mara Tamkovich's debut film, “Under The Grey Sky.” The movie is based on the true story of Belarusian journalists Katsiaryna Andreyeva and her husband, Ihar Ilyash.

Andreyeva and her Belsat colleague Darya Chultsova were detained by riot police while broadcasting the peaceful protests from the Square of Changes in Minsk, where activist Raman Bandarenka was beaten to death by masked thugs after he tried to stop them from cutting down red and white ribbons symbolizing Belarus's flag before Soviet occupation. Andreyeva was later sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of treason. As of today, together with thousands of other political prisoners, she remains incarcerated in Belarus.

“Under The Grey Sky” is the first feature film about the 2020 protests and the first film by a Belarusian director to qualify for the Tribeca Film Festival, where it premiered in June 2024. The Boston premier is the first film screening in the U.S. apart from the festival.

“Paradoxically, this film for me is about hope," Tamkovich says. "It’s about the depth of essence of being human, to which we turn for hope in these gruesome times. My goal was to comprehend this story and live through it together with my protagonists, using this story to illustrate what the majority of us, Belarusians, had to live through as a nation.”