Gurkov’s Language (2016)

Online video | 3.25 min.

Movie Info

Release Date: 25 Jul, 2016
Country Belarus
Author Gleb Labadzenka
Published by Mova Nanova
Submitting institution Mova Nanova

Synopsis

Competition status – participant

Eleven-time Muay Thai kickboxing world champion Belarusian Vitaly Gurkov has an excellent command of the Belarusian language. He uses the language frequently in his daily life. Most people in Belarus speak Russian, a product of forced Russification during the Soviet era.

Vitaly agreed to give boxing lessons to students of the free Belarusian language course program, “Mova Nanova” ( “Language Anew”). His idea was simple. Everyone can try to box, and they don’t have to become world champion; similarly, they can speak Belarusian and they don’t have to speak it perfectly like in classic literature.

In the video all sorts of people are shown speaking Belarusian – from students to pensioners, from managers to beekeepers, boys and girls.

At the end of the film, everyone’s results are different – both in boxing and speaking Belarusian.
But most importantly, Vitaly says, no one should be afraid to try and start.