ABSTRACT
The establishment of the Soviet regime after the events of 1917 provided new opportunities for cultural development amongst national minorities previously oppressed under the tsarist regime. Belorussians and Jews, among others, were offered the right and the material means to develop their own culture in their national language. The Jewish cultural renaissance, actually initiated before 1917 but vigorously promoted by Jewish cultural activists in 1917-1918, was initially supported by the Bolsheviks. Belorussian culture and language, previously oppressed and disdained for their peasant character, finally became the main language of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) established in 1921. The flourishing of Yiddish and Belorussian cultures was particularly striking in literature, theatre and scholarship. His Excellency was the first Belorussian film with a Jewish theme, and the fifth film made by Belgoskino. Probably the least Belorussian, but certainly the most Jewish film produced by Belgoskino, Seekers of Happiness constitutes the culmination of the celebration of the new Soviet Jew.
