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Cadillac for Zosia

Kolya, a 20-year-old dreamer from Belarus, receives a draft notice and decides to flee. His grandmother Zosia invents an escape plan: a hearse and a coffin as disguise. Pretending to carry a body, they head to the Polish border.

  • Aliaksei Sivakou
    Director
  • Aliaksei Sivakou
    Writer
  • Maciej Ślesicki
    Producer
  • Warsaw Film School
    Producer
  • Mikita Talatai
    Key Cast
  • Natallia Lokits
    Key Cast
  • Palina Talai
    Cinematography
  • Eugene Sinichenka
    Editing
  • Jan Przybora
    Sound editing
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Cadillac dla Zosi
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    Belarus, Poland
  • Country of Filming:
    Poland
  • Language:
    Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    3:2
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Warsaw Film School
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Aliaksei Sivakou

Aliaksei Sivakou is a Belarusian-born filmmaker whose path to cinema began outside the industry. He came to filmmaking driven by a need to make people laugh, move them to tears, provoke, and surprise.

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Director Statement

This film is my way of speaking about life shaped by borders imposed not by individuals, but by political and historical circumstances. I am interested in how, under conditions of isolation and lack of choice, close people find themselves divided — not only by a state border, but also culturally, mentally, and generationally.

Kolia’s story reflects the reality faced by many young people in Belarus, whose future appears predetermined: limited opportunities, closed borders, and constant pressure from the system. In such a context, even joining the army or security forces can begin to look like the only available social elevator — not as a conscious choice, but as a forced surrender.

Kolia’s journey is not merely an attempt to escape physically. It is a search for personal identity, for the possibility of defining oneself outside imposed roles and expectations. Traveling to Europe becomes a way of reconnecting with his roots, his freedom, and his right to a personal future. Through an absurd and tragicomic situation, I aim to show how human dignity and intergenerational bonds can resist the system, even when no clear way out seems to exist.