The "Scythe on Stone" Program – Season Premiere on "Belsat"

"Yes, all good. That was a working take. And now, let's move on to the sex scene…" – commands the director of the "Kasa na Kamień" project, Artsiom Lobach, and suddenly falls silent, embarrassed by what he said…

The pause is instantly filled with laughter ("A sex scene? Please!...") from everyone present on the set. The presenters and heroes of the program – Katsiaryna Vadanosava and Vasil Kalach – laugh, the camera operators and scriptwriter Ales Kirkevich roar with laughter, Artsiom Lobach himself smiles.

"Very brave!" – remarks, holding back laughter, Viktor Shukelovich, the executive editor of the program.

Павялічыць

"Where is a woman's place, and where is a man's…"

All this happens against the backdrop of an ascetic black-and-white scenography with empty chairs and a fantastic white umbrella for diffusing light over the heads of the heroes in a huge studio. Such an atmosphere prevails before the start of filming one of the episodes of the second installment of the program, dedicated to the theme of the sexual revolution in the BSSR of the 1920s.

Scriptwriter Ales Kirkevich will later call this mood "Mozartian," because in it, like in Mozart's works, lightness and irony will dominate. This mood is set by the director-producer with his jokes and smiles in the studio, but, it seems, the vibe is already embedded in the texts and in the energy with which the program's presenters deliver them.

"I adore your energy! How do you do it?" – the director's remark.

"It always looks different: when you write the text and look for information – and when people already pronounce it on camera and something interesting is born. And now on the set, it generally looks like theater. As if you are present at theatrical magic, when people bring stories and words to life. And we will wait for all this to be seen on screens, so to speak, by the broad public, and how this word will resonate," – Ales Kirkevich notes with a smile.

Павялічыць

How might it resonate? We assume with great interest. Because apart from the special vibe, the presenters of "Kasa na Kamień" share historical facts that were a complete surprise to us. And they don't just share them, but, as they themselves say at the beginning of the program, they determine "where a woman's place is, and where a man's." And between these poles arises a magnetic field from which one cannot tear one's eyes or ears.

"Did you know that the USSR of the 1920s was the flagship of the sexual revolution – worldwide?" – Katya Vadanosava asks her partner. "That very lauded Freud-Marxism?.." – a question for a question from Vasil Kalach. "The first commune appeared near Minsk back in 1919 – and half a thousand people lived there. Everything was common: dishes, clothes, and – free sex. Because the unique right to relationships with another person – that is…" – Katsiaryna pauses. "…A bourgeois relic!" – Vasil concludes.

"All women are witches!"

Further in this "immoral story about morality," not-so-Mozartian notes will sound, but we stop to avoid spoilers, and look for Viktor Shukelovich with our eyes: we want to extract some information about "Kasa na Kamień" from the project's executive editor.

Viktor Shukelovich speaks of the program "Kasa na Kamień" as the season premiere. It is planned that the new program will air on "Belsat" once every two weeks until the end of May (at least) and will present very different historical topics "through the prism of female and male perspectives."

"I believe that historical content in Belarus is still somewhat scarce. There should be more, and of various kinds, because we are all different, all viewers are different, and we need to reach them and attract their attention, interest them, with different methods. And if different products compete with each other and offer something else, the more chances there will be that we will reach viewers and come to the revival of our historical memory in a wider space," – Viktor Shukelovich shares his opinion.

We also learn from him that the episode of the program about the sexual revolution will not actually be the premiere. This will be the second episode (to air on January 28).

The premiere of the "Kasa na Kamień" series will take place on Wednesday, January 21 – with a program dedicated to witchcraft in Belarusian history ("All women are witches!" – that's how it will begin).

"A very interesting and little-researched aspect of our history. We are used to thinking that women are witches. Mass culture transmits this. But men were also sorcerers! And we have examples from the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, when men were also executed for witchcraft. If you look at documents from the 17th-18th centuries, men were burned no less than women there. For example, Maksim Znak – a full namesake of our former political prisoner – was burned in Grodno. He was burned for taking away the minds of his victims – forcing them to break stoves and gnaw stones…" – Viktor Shukelovich recounts.

To the question of who is the main Belarusian sorcerer today, Viktor does not answer (he ponders with a sly smile). The scythe has met stone, as they say. By the way, regarding the project's name, Viktor Shukelovich considers it very successful and metaphorical. "Through this stone, we emphasize that girls can also be firm, because stone can also be precious," – he says. There's no need to speak of the different meanings of "scythe."

"Boasted of burning 6 sorceresses"

"Attention! Silence! Action!" – the director's command is heard. An episode of the witches' edition is being filmed.

"The last witch in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was burned in 1793! Frankly, I can't wrap my head around it. The French Revolution was already happening, and freedom-brotherhood, and here they are burning witches. In Belarus – in 1758, one of Count Tyszkiewicz's stewards cheerfully boasted that he had burned 6 sorceresses. Three confessed, three did not. His colleague burned two sorcerers, a man and a woman. So, was it the norm?.." – we share a small quote from the presenters.

But has the practice of witch hunts already faded into oblivion?..

Sparks in the "Kasa na Kamień" program will be struck not only by the clash of female and male views, but also by the clash of history with the present. Unfortunately, witch and sorcerer hunts continue today. Don't they?..

Павялічыць

Artsiom Lobach films the program as if he himself had just attended an auto-da-fé yesterday, but he doesn't show it – he just smiles. He admits to us that he was inspired to take on the filming by the topic of gender balance, but not only that.

"Actually, I really love everyday history. I'm currently working on a side project where people tell me how they remember their lives in such everyday details. What they ate, what they drank, what smells there were then. Such things. And I really liked the script for "Kasa na Kamień" because it's about money, about transport, about many things. Because I see that we talk little about it now – we somehow philosophize more. But objects also create history," – says Artsiom Lobach.

The program director adds that he also liked the concept, the scenography of the project – black and white, male and female. "I love such contrasts, opposites," – Artsiom Lobach admits. In brackets: Lobach is simultaneously filming a documentary, funded by German producers, about life on the Lithuanian-Russian border, and there, too, it's about opposites (he tells us about a Russian banner on the border with the slogan "Victory will be ours. 1945-2025," visible from the Lithuanian side).

Павялічыць

Instead of sex – sports and preparation for a great war…

After lunch, the heroes appear before the cameras in magnificent historical costumes, which further adds to the magical quality of the action, as scriptwriter Ales Kirkevich mentioned. He will also appear on screen – a white stage – as an expert. And he admits to us that it would be good if the clashes of interests and the discussion on which the program is built would go beyond the screen and continue in comments, in kitchens, and on discussion platforms.

And what about the sexual revolution?

"In 1929, the great experiment with sexual freedom in the USSR began to fold… It was replaced by Stalinist unification and communist patriarchy… The question remained: what to do with the sexual energy of the masses liberated by the revolution?.. It's simple. Sports, parachute jumping, grenade throwing, Voroshilov sharpshooting, skiing, GTO, subbotniks, great constructions, and preparation for – a great war…" – asserts the expert in Belsat's new program "Kasa na Kamień".

The premiere of the program "Kasa na Kamień" ("Witchcraft") – January 21, starting at 7 PM. The second episode (about the sexual revolution) – January 28. Many interesting topics await the viewers of the series.

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