Drawing on personal and professional experience, Belarusian filmmakers Alexander Mihalkovich and Hanna Badziaka offer a snapshot of a troubled, modern-day Belarus in their film “Motherland”. The film underscores the causes and consequences of the decades-old military practice of violent bullying, torture, and murder of conscripts as a means of authoritarian control. After the loss of her son, Svetlana investigates the violent culture of the Belarusian army. Simultaneously, a group of friends soon to be enlisted go to rave parties and protest marches following the re-election of Aleksandr Lukashenko in 2020.