Premiere of the documentary film "THIS KIND OF HOPE" by Pawel Siczek. In attendance and followed by a discussion with director Pawel Siczek and protagonist Andrei Sannikov. Moderated by Rainer Mende (Poln. Institut Leipzig)
Diplomacy is Andrei Sannikov's life. As a top diplomat, he dismantled one of the world's most dangerous nuclear arsenals. Today he is fighting for the return of a lost democracy.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, anything seems possible. Andrei Sannikov has a very special task because, as a diplomat, he is significantly involved in the nuclear disarmament of Belarus - without knowing at the outset how many warheads are actually in the country. After the horrors of the Cold War, this disarmament also raises international hopes that a world without nuclear weapons could one day be possible. Sannikov never stopped being a diplomat. Even when he talks about his life and his country in exile in Warsaw. Sannikov weighs up every word he says. He knows that people in Belarus could be tortured or killed for speaking out.
Andrei Sannikov's story is a glimpse into the past and present of Belarus, which never loses hope for a better future.