“Runaways” complain that they were used in the dark

A scandal is breaking out among the Belarusian emigration. Belarusian television showed the film “Someone Else’s Sky”, about how difficult it is for the oppositionists who have left the country. But the participants in the film, who complain about the difficult life abroad, say they did not expect their interviews to be used in this way. According to them, they were sure that the shooting was being conducted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s office. And that they will receive help and support from this structure. Tikhanovskaya herself claims that she did not order any filming.

The film “Alien Sky” was delivered to the audience in three stages. First, on Tuesday, his private screening took place at the Pobeda cinema in the capital. And only then it was shown on the Belarus1 TV channel, and then on ONT. This triple information strike had an unexpected effect – a scandal broke out in emigration. The participants in this documentary, the “runaways,” as President Alexander Lukashenko calls them, began to declare one after another that they had never expected their revelations to be used in such a product.

Meanwhile, the author of the film, political commentator of Belteleradiocompany Alexey Martinenok explained to journalists at the premiere of the film: “This is a film about Belarusians who, for various reasons, found themselves abroad after the events of 2020, mainly in Lithuania and Poland. They honestly and frankly tell us what difficulties they had to face – in life, at work. Everything is honest, firsthand, the guys tell it themselves. There is not a single word of voiceover text from the author in the film.”

The author notes: “They tell us stories on the Internet and social networks that life is great there, what cool sights there are, and everything else. And the value of this material lies precisely in the fact that it is not customary to flaunt it.”

Why did the heroes flaunt their problems this time? The main character of the film, Yulia Brikina-Borisova, who had already returned to Belarus at the time of filming, explained her motives in this way: “I understand that many women do not dare to do this, they keep silent, they do not take out the trash from the hut. But it needs to be talked about. Perhaps if I had heard about it somewhere, my decision would have been different and my children would not have had to go through so much.”

Her feelings gave the name to the film. Brikina-Borisova shared her secret with Belarusian journalists: “In the first moments, one might say, when you find yourself on a foreign land, you see the same sky, the same sun, but you realize that it is someone else’s. I will never forget those moments when I returned home in a rush. Passport checks, suitcases, you stop by the bus, and you realize that this is your native sky.”

In addition to these deeply lyrical moments, the film contains many complaints about the real difficulties Belarusians face abroad. There are problems with employment, medical care, and even manifestations of aggressive nationalism. All kinds of people are talking about this on camera. But after the release of this film, they also began to declare in opposition publications that the purpose of their revelations was not to complain about the host country or share nostalgic emotions, but the hope of getting real help.

One of the opposition Internet resources reports that its correspondents interviewed the participants in the shooting and found out the following. They were asked to participate in the filming of a video for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s office. And most of them believed that interviews were given for internal use in order to show potential donors the needs of people in difficult financial situations.

One of the characters, though not named by the resource, says: “The interview was necessary so that I could receive financial assistance. For the video, we were specifically looking for cases of people who need this help. They asked me to be honest and tell them about all the problems. But I was told it would be anonymous.”

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya herself has already commented on this situation in her Telegram channel. The politician stated: “People who find themselves in difficult conditions precisely because of the regime deserve support and understanding, and not to be used for a “picture” about how “bad” the refugees are. It’s hard to imagine how the characters in the film felt when they saw that their words, which were supposedly recorded to get support, ended up on the screen of state television.”

Tikhanovskaya emphasized: “Some characters say that the shooting was allegedly carried out on behalf of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s office. But we will never risk people. All initiatives coming from our office or with our assistance must adhere to all security principles.”

Meanwhile, ONT has already ironically reported that “the fugitives are now most concerned about how they managed to shoot this project.” The TV channel reported that its journalists tried to find the characters of the film in hot pursuit and ask them questions. Allegedly, not everyone managed to get through, but those who responded reported that they received a fee from 100 to 300 euros for filming the project.