Discoveries from Lithuania World Cinema

The story of a 50-something who is living with her dominant mother trying to start an independent life.

Winter, 1942 in the Arctic Circle.

An old hermit and would be botanist tries to catch a mythical creature who lives in the forest to add to his exclusive collection.

Think carefully before you hunt, because you could become the hunted.

Description Bronius Kutavičius’s oratorio about mythical Baltic history comes to life in unorthodox meanings and metamorphoses in the most recent work of video artist Rimas Sakalauskas. The artist implores participants to participate in an apocalyptic journey, where everyone will discover a clash between old, familiar shapes and alien, otherworldly life forms. The process of evolution, advanced technologies, and empyreal life forms – these fantastical plot elements may remind one of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, but the artist himself says that he was more influenced by the aesthetic of music videos by the Scottish electronic music duo “Boards of Canada”.

Animated short.

A Story About 'turning Death Into Life' - Icons on Ammunition Boxes Transform the Military Rubbish Smelling of Death Into Life-Affirming Art.

Follows the expedition led by veteran mountaineer Algimantas Jucevicius to the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan.

In Rimtautas Šilinis' film “Lithuania in the Second World War. Film documents” the scenes are edited chronologically from the material stored in the Lithuanian film archives.The historical context of the events establishes the view that the occupation, and at the same time the Second World War, ended for Lithuania in 1993. August 31 after the Soviet army left the country. kinofondas.lt

For some time now, The State Commission of the Lithuanian Language is at the center of tough discussions. For some, it’s an institution which safeguards the most important principles of the language, but for others, it’s an anachronism of the Soviet regime. This film offers a first-time glimpse into the commission’s work

A homeless wanderer, Rimas Šileikis, visits Gabrielė, the lady of the manor where he once worked as a gardener many years ago. Over lunch, he tells her about his estranged brother, Stasys, and finally resolves to pay him a visit. But upon returning to his native village, Rimas finds something very different from what he expected. Rich in elements of magical realism, Tabasco reflects the director’s exploration of intergenerational collective trauma and the crisis of provincial life in post-Soviet Lithuania.

What does the Wind Horse (Khiimori) mean in Mongolian culture? How do Mongolians show respect to local spirit masters? To explore these questions, a group of Lithuanian scholars travels across the vast Mongolian steppes, visiting yurts and monasteries, and meeting lamas, nomads, and local scientists.

The first DĖMESIO! concert, which took place in Kablys, Vilnius, became a film capturing the moment, combining musical experience with documentary material.

Animated short.

The histories of the Lithuanian state and Lithuanian cinema intertwine. The film incorporates documentary footage from various Lithuanian directors, excerpts from feature and animated films, and interviews with people.

Old Abraham Bentley hid the remainder of the family fortune at one end of a rope he arranged in the barn - the noose at the other end is in plain sight. He receives his prodigal son, Luke, with a mixture of obvious joy and of inarticulate urgings for him to hang himself.

Coziness, sincerity, warmth - that's how the music of singer and songwriter Tautvydas Gaudėšius, known as FC Baseball, can be described, and the singer gives his whole heart on stage. Faithful, memorising the lyrics, open to feelings - that's what his fans are like, pulling his songs together during concerts and immersing themselves in his music with all their being. "Telia Play invites you not only to enjoy an FC Baseball concert, but also to see what goes on "behind the scenes" and the thoughts that go through an artist's mind before he enters the stage. It's time to get swept away by the music!

An ironic story about the unpredictability of human existence. The heroes of the film: two bloated grandmothers riding a velomobile, a young photographer capturing moments of sadness and joy, and his new acquaintance, a beautiful girl. Grandmothers think about impending death, young people - about eternal love. Unfortunately, not everything in life can be predicted in advance.

Elderly, bald, reserved - one of those characters in one of those Eastern European towns. Nothing too peculiar about him. But his wife becomes suspicious. Perhaps the neighbours would notice it too. Were they not permanently glued to their TV screens, they would notice the outcomes of his secret plan - a personal mission against Nature. In fact, precisely the kind of Nature advertised on TV and eco-packages. The Nature of everybody's dreams. All Is Nature is short Lithuanian arthouse fiction film with a twist of surrealism, exploring how our contemporary lifestyle may influence global environmental processes.

Belarus. Town of Zhlobin. It's been 21 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Most of the locals survive solely by making and selling soft toys. Their only customers are the people passing through on trains. However, approaching a train with a toy in one's hands is illegal. The film tells the stories of ordinary people living in the town of Zhlobin. They all make toys, sell them, have chats, drink, go back to making toys, sing, fight and... make toys again.

This is a story about humans and things, where people wander, searching, trying to find and wants to be found, about lost and found buttons and about the invisible yarns that connects.

The late Georgian writer, filmmaker and university professor, Zaza Khalvashi, delivers a quirky yet genuine tale of mundanity in this posthumously produced feature. Drawing Lots is a vignette of a seaside community where an apartment block and courtyard serve as an amphitheatre for the mysterious power dynamics that play out in the residents’ intertwined lives.

Tangled Wool explores the struggle of finding your own identity, questioning one’s path, and the feeling of being lost. It highlights the pressure to conform to existing stereotypes. Through the use of Christian imagery and subtle humor, the film portrays the inner turmoil and the quest for a genuine sense of self.

A short film "Parking Lot" is examining the theme of "emotional hygiene" through the perspective of friendship.

A group of teenagers doesn’t know what to do – should they leave their unconscious friend lying there alone, or call for help and expose themselves in the process? At the moment, the best solution seems to be calling their classmate Aistė. It turns out that getting their friend out of the ditch isn’t as easy as it seemed.

Patrick lives in a children’s home. After seeing a parrot in the zoo, he becomes obsessed with it, which makes it even harder to find parents who want to adopt him.

A miniature movie, kids inhabit the landscape and communicate through the river, the sky, the air.

Fedia – man living in little yellow house next to Gariūnai marketplace. To him life seems simple, completely transparent and without any hidden truths.

Aldona is the single mother of a daughter, Miglė, who is soon to become a mother herself. ​When Miglė comes to visit for the weekend during the last days of her pregnancy, Aldona tries to show how much she cares, but instead starts to control her daughter. Step by step, Aldona pushes the boundaries between the two, until she crosses the line.

An experimental film about a meaningless end.

Three photographers: Antanas Sutkus, Algimantas Kunčius and Romualdas Rakauskas talk about art and their work.

The film's main protagonists are elementary school students who, thanks to their childish imagination, transform the boring reality of school life into playful stories. And Baubas teaches them with magical practice.

For a few months every year, a small harbour in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean comes alive with hundreds of sailing boats. With little dramas around every corner, the tiny harbour briefly becomes a miniature model of the world.

Animated short.

Animation short.

The film based on poem by Gillad Meiri called Jerusalem 2004. It is best defined by lines from the poem: „On the rivers of asphalt at Zion Square traffic flows as usual. There we sat in cafes, only those with a guard".

The understanding that energy neither originates from nothing nor disappears into nothing leads us to explore the concepts of reincarnation, rebirth, and transmigration from philosophical and religious perspectives.

World War III has been going on for 70 years. The Soloist, a lonely traumatized by military service 35-year old man with a supernatural gift to recognize and reproduce people's memories with sound, goes on a journey together with the Teacher, a 55-year old woman from a village, who asks him to create a memory that never existed – her dead son’s return from war. Her persistence blends with his desperate desire to recollect his own memories. Together, they embark on a journey to fulfill their needs while overcoming the obstacles of the war-torn world.

Documentary about 4th biggest city in Lithuania - Šiauliai and it's famous microdistrict Pietinis.

An animated film based on the poem by S. Nėries.

Young artist and mother Ieva follows her lover Vadim to a small Lithuanian town and together they create musical performance "The Robot and the Butterfly". While her daughter stays with grandparents, young artists meet creative challenges that sour their relationship. And Ieva starts questioning if her passion and art is worth sacrificing relationship with her daughter.

Serap Sherpa, an accomplished mountain guide from Nepal, now drives a cab in New York City and gets lost in his memories of the mountains.

Gustoniai is a village located in the northern part of Lithuania. This place also lends its name to a contemporary art project that commenced in 2001. Every three years, artist Darius Ziura shoots a one-minute video portrait of every villager that has agreed to participate in the project. These portraits are then pieced together and edited into a film. With every episode, the project expands it’s time spectrum, thus reflecting on changes both in people’s age and lifestyle, as well as the evolution of social structures and processes, which are affected by the changing socio-political situation in the country. This project also reflects on the rapid changes in filming techniques and editing strategies, presenting the different trends of visual culture of every period.

Sigis is stuck in a circle of daily routine, tries to get out, but always puts it off, because Sigis is stuck in a circle of daily routine.

It is a short story about ordinary street guys. Like many others they want to be cool. They want to love, to possess, to survive and to fulfill their ambitions. But will the night streets grant them this chance?

In Soviet-occupied Lithuania, two young pioneers, Vasia and Goopis, are assigned to serve on the mysterious "Red Wall." They embark on a journey through a bleak, industrial landscape where collective farms and cities have been transformed into machines that torment people, and the tentacles of the totalitarian system reach every corner of the world. Realizing that the wall is made of living flesh, Vasia and Goopis decide to escape.

Once upon a telenovela, the Marias taught their viewers to dream bigger, cry harder, and wait for endless love – now, the women return to ask, ‘Who wrote the script?’

Gytė is trying to savour the last days of the summer. Her parents are very tense and their behaviour raises many questions, the answers to which she starts seeking on her own.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the start of the partisan war, the film tells the story of the military organization formed by Lithuanian General Povilas Plechavičius.

Animation short.

A daughter of a cigarette smuggler reevaluates the memories of her father, questioning the childhood myth she built around him and getting to know him anew.

Will history be able to triumph, and misfortune and loss turn into joy? Everything is possible in the theater.