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Russian filmmaker Govorukhin gets Lukashenka’s spirituality award

Russian filmmaker Stanislav Govorukhin has been granted the Belarusian president’s Special Prize for the Preservation and Development of Spirituality in Cinematic Art.

The award was presented to the 78-year-old Govorukhin by Belarusian Culture Minister Boris Svetlov in Minsk on Friday within the framework of the 20th Listapad International Film Festival.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Govorukhin said that he had learned about the award a few hours before the opening of the Listapad festival.

Mr. Govorukhin said that he had been very pleased to be invited to attend this year’s festival. “To say that this is a great honor for me is to say nothing,” he said. I have great and long-standing respect for this person [Alyaksandr Lukashenka]. I’m not saying this only now to be liked by you. I always say this, in the East, in Russia, to the president of the Russian Federation.”

“Imagine if all these years not Lukashenka and not some Yushchenkos, Yanukovychs had been in power in the Republic of Belarus,” he said. “What would we have now? A totally hostile country because the West is working toward this, tirelessly [working] to divide our brotherly nations. And we would be filthy Muscovites and not relatives here.” // BelaPAN