crossroadsLocation: Jenseits im Viadukt, Viaduktstrasse 65
Time: 8 pm,  entrance free
Language: Russian with english subtitles

Libereco will present its human rights work on Belarus right after the screening.

Valery Liashkevich is a homeless artist who lives at a railway station and for over twenty years has painted pictures in the streets of the town of Gomel in Belarus. For the natives he is no more than a local attraction, but the filmmakers set out to show that this eccentric artist and philosopher has many important truths to tell us about the meaning of life, that his work and attitude to the world make deep sense. Two large exhibitions of his works, one of them at the National Art Museum in Minsk, were a huge success and garnered the interest of art critics. The documentary was made with private money to support this extremely talented artist.

AWARDS:
DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL “RUSSIA” (Ekaterinburg, Russia)
– “Best Debut”
– “Best film about a man creator”
– “Audience Award”
INTERNATIONAL WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL (Warsaw, Poland) “A” class
– “Special Mention Jury Award”
– “Audience Award”
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL “RADIANT ANGEL” (Moscow, Russia)
– “Special Mention Jury Award”
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL “LISTAPAD” (Minsk, Belarus)
– “Best documentary film”

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT about the film:
The film “Crossroads” was conceived as a charity project to help the homeless artist Valery Liashkevich. It became a discovery to me that a person deprived of basic comforts of life can strive to his goal so persistently, remain a philosopher, be thoughtful about his actions, preserve kindness to others. I was not alone in this discovery. The character charmed all members of the crew. No one questioned investing time and their own money (the documentary was created without financial support of any organization) into the production. Art historians joined our work. The National Art Museum of Belarus organized an exhibition of Valery Liashkevich’s works; it lasted three weeks and became a huge success. Another exhibition was held in Gomel, the native city of our character. “Crossroads” became a project, which continues even after the work on the documentary is complete. I hope that the life of the character is changing to the better with our help. The proceeds of the sale of his paintings went on to his bank account and we hope that in the very near future Valery Lyashkevich will have a place he can call HOME.
The film itself was taken under the wing of Malcolm Dikselius – a producer from Sweden. His company «Dixit International» is presenting the ‘Crossroads’ at several international film festivals. Malcolm is convinced that the fate of Valery Lyashkevich will touch the hearts of people anywhere in the world.