Creating provocative theatre carries great personal risks: emotional, financial and artistic. In Belarus, there are additional risks: censorship, imprisonment, and the fear of worse.

Belarus is governed by Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. In the run-up to the 2010 presidential election and for a year afterwards, filmmaker Madeleine Sackler followed the trials and tribulations of the Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre company based in Minsk and led by Natalia and Nikolai.

The elections were followed by demonstrations. Although the protests were violently crushed, it marked the start of a tumultuous year of unrest, fear, arrests and intimidation. The Belarus Free Theatre decided to move abroad and use theatre to draw attention to the situation in Belarus. Sackler followed their rehearsals, their emotional conversations with the home front, and their successful performances.

Some of the actors are still in exile, but others are continuing to make underground theatre in Belarus, in the hope that someday things will change.

Directed by Madeleine Sackler
Duration: 76′
Year: 2013

This screening is in partnership with Dogwoof

While the eyes of the world are turned to the Middle East, protests against dictatorships are happening much closer to home – in Europe.

Aleksander Lukashenko, President of Belarus for the past 14 years, has been accused of torture, state-sponsored murder and kidnap as part of a crackdown on opposition to his government.

Europe’s Last Dictator follows the family, friends, and supporters of opposition leaders including Irina Bogdanova, the sister of the politician and activist Andrei Sannikov, considered the biggest threat to Lukashenko.

One of the first films to get footage of protests against what was widely accepted as a rigged election in 2010, Europe’s Last Dictator shows the violent repression that took place in this underreported part of the world.

Followed by a panel discussion with:

Directors Mathew Charles and Juan Passarelli;

Edward Lucas, International Editor of The Economist;

Irina Bogdanova, sister of imprisoned presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov;

A former prisoner who will be named on the night of the screening.

Chaired by Stephen Sackur, the host of BBC Hard Talk.

Directed by: Juan Passarelli & Mathew Charles

Year: 2012

 Europe’s Last Dictator is a thought-provoking film about Belarus and its president Aleksander Lukashenko. The panel gathered to discuss Lukashenko’s brutal authoritarian style of ruling and what the future holds for Belarusians under a state that actively carries out torture, state-sponsored murder and kidnap as part of a crackdown of the opposition.

Stephen Sackur of the BBC’s Hard Talk was joined by directors Mathew Charles and Jean Passarelli and The Economist’s International editor, Edward Lucas. The panel was also comprised of two prominent activists who gave a very real insight into what is currentyl happening in Belarus.

Lukashenko has held power in Belarus for 18 years now. His power has turned more and more brutal. Freedom of speech is suppressed and the foreign media banned. Lukashenko himself describes his style of ruling as authoritarian:

“They tell me: you are a dictator. Am I a dictator? My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator… But an authoritarian ruling style is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it.” (Belarusian radio, August 2003)

The elections of December 2010 saw Belarusians rise up against the government after the elections were rigged, with Lukashenko declaring victory before the ballots had even closed. The crowd, chanting "leave office now" was brutally repressed by riot police and the KGB.

When asked by the audience how Lukashenko had been able to hold power for so long, Lucas responded by drawing similarities to Putin and his control of the media and in that respect Lukashenko did, and perhaps still does hold a chunk of the population that support him.

The panel touched on some of Lukashenko’s ‘bizarre & disturbed’ behavior and its relations with Russia. Described as the “badly behaved dog”, Russia needs Belarus to carry out activities that Russia wishes to be indirectly involved with.

The prevalence of the night seemed to be how the activists’ and political prisoners’ plights could be made more vocal and what the west can do to stop Lukashenko. Visa sanctions have already been placed on Lukashenko but not all the panel agreed that further economic sanctions would be the best way forward, Lucas’s opinion was that more sanctions was not for the best:

“I don’t want tough sanctions, I’m in favor of having as much co-operation as possible with the lower levels of the Belarusian government to show them the way the European Union works …Lukashenko’s narrative is very much they don’t need us and we’re different anyways.”

The future of Belarus seems bleak, whilst the KGB continues to act as Lukashenko’s loyal dogs not much will change. Sackur asked the activists present at the event whether people would take to the streets again, the answer was a flat no.

By Nicole Hunt

EU and Ukrainian officials meet in Kiev on Monday for the annual EU-Ukraine Summit, with rumours abound that President Viktor Yanukovych is planning to skip the meeting in favour of the EurAsEC summit taking place in Moscow on the same day. Yanukovych’s planned visit to Brussels in Octoberwas delayed after opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison on what the EU says are politically motivated charges.

The Gulf Cooperation Council holds its annual summit in Riyadh, the first formal meeting of leaders since the beginning of the Arab Spring last year. The meeting begins on the same day that the UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss sanctions against Iran and receive a briefing from Jamal Benomar, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Yemen.

Leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States meet in Moscow on Tuesday to celebrate the organisation’s 20th anniversary. The CIS was formed out of the dissolution of the Soviet Union; the initial agreement was signed by Belarus, Russia and Ukraine on 8 December, 1991, while eight more former Soviet republics joined on 21 December.

In Tripoli, Tuesday marks the deadline issued by the government and the Tripoli Council for rogue, non-Tripoli based militias to disarm and leave the city. Despite the announcement of the deadline on 6 December, clashes between militias and security forces have continued unabated.

Pending the confirmation of election results by the Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 17 December, President Joseph Kabila is scheduled to be sworn in for a second term in Kinshasa. International observers have raised concerns about the validity of the country’s 28 November election.

The long-awaited verdict in the ‘Government I’ genocide trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is handed down on Wednesday in Arusha. Former Interior Minister Edouard Karemera and former President of the MRND political party Mathieu Ngirumpatse are accused of recruiting and arming the Interahamwe militia and disseminating Hutu Power propaganda.

The European Central Bank holds the first of two 36-month longer-term refinancing operations announced by ECB President Mario Draghi on 8 December as part of a series of measures to support bank lending and market activities. The LTRO comes on the same day that Italy releases Q3 GDP figures; the preliminary figures had been due in November, but were not released amid political turmoil.

Palestinian leaders meet in Cairo on Thursday, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expected to chair the first meeting of what would be a unified Palestinian decision-making body in place until elections are held in May 2012. Members of the Palestinian National Council, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s executive boards and the directors-general of various Palestinian factions are scheduled to attend.

Amid weeks of protests against the recent parliamentary elections, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow.

On Friday, the South Korean military is set to turn on the lights on three giant steel Christmas trees placed at points along the country’s border with North Korea. Pyongyang has reportedly called the trees a form of ‘psychological warfare’ and has threatened ‘unexpected consequences’ if the lighting goes ahead.

Activists in Russia have planned another mass protest against the 4 December elections on Saturday, after an estimated 50,000 people turned out for the 10 December demonstration, which was organised on Facebook. The tens of thousands already signed up to attend have clearly not been swayed by President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge to investigate allegations of electoral fraud.

Sunday is, of course, Christmas Day. While millions worldwide will be focusing on egg nog, Christmas pudding and what Santa’s left under the tree, Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan will be addressing a rally in Karachi, where he is said to be launching a ‘revolutionary manifesto’ ahead of elections in 2013.

Sunday also marks the 20th anniversary of the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, who had been President of the Soviet Union from October 1988. Gorbachev’s resignation came a day before the USSR was formally dissolved on 26 December, 1991.