New voices of Lithuanian short cinema – “Romuvoje”

“Short cinema. Nauji balsai” is a program of relevant and engaging Lithuanian cinema, which will be shown in Lithuanian cinemas from April 18. The distinctive feature of the latest short films created by talented Lithuanian filmmakers is the desire to learn about human relationships and an authentic approach to the environment around us.

“Pushful, energetic, with new ideas and a unique approach to the world and to cinema – this is the new generation of filmmakers who create evocative short films. We want the audience to hear and see the new voices of Lithuanian cinema right now, so that they can follow them and be proud and happy together. We also want short films to find their place on the big cinema screens, because they have the qualities to engage, capture attention, make people laugh and excite,” Rimantė Daugėlaitė, the founder of the “Lithuanian Shorts” agency, says about the program.

The program consists of 5 short films that have already received recognition at both foreign and Lithuanian film festivals.

The documentary film “Voyage” (dir. Rimantas Oičenka) tells about the fishing trips of the crew of the ship “Nemunėlis” in the Atlantic Ocean with archival footage. Although the ship moves thousands of kilometers away from the iron curtain, its shadow follows the fishermen. Because of this, the main character of the film is the longing letters of the fisherman Laimis and his wife Marytė to each other. “The Voyage” won several awards at international film festivals – a special mention of the jury at one of the most important A-class film festivals, the Warsaw International Film Festival, the title of the best documentary short film at the Desenzano Film Festival (Italy) and the BEAST International Film Festival (France) and the audience award “Eastern Neighbors” at the film festival in the Netherlands.

The second documentary film in the program is the film “Number One” (directed by Milda Augustaitytė), which won the national competition program at the Vilnius Short Film Festival and won the title of the best documentary film at the Slow Hungarian Film Festival. It shows the everyday life of young ballroom dancers and the requirement for them to learn at an early age to demonstrate masculinity, to seduce women, to sell themselves. The main character of the film, Arian, is full of theatricality.

Director Severina Vaičiūnaitė’s “When I was a Malalietka” will captivate mature films (eng. coming of age) fans because it poignantly tells the story of the warmth of close friendship and the courage of separation and the memories that inspire you to move forward. The film had its world premiere at the Category A San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.

In his film “Hubble’s Law”, Arnas Balčiūnas not only skillfully creates tension in everyday life, but also sensitively reveals society’s attitude towards people with hearing impairment. In the film, the role of the construction site manager was played by actor Giedrius Kiela.

Another film awarded at the Vilnius Short Film Festival is the experimental film “Dear Dad” by Austė Urbanavičiūtė, in which young adults confess difficult childhood experiences using home video footage.

The program “Short cinema. New Voices” will be shown at the Kaunas cinema house “Romuva” on April 20 and 25. (after this screening there will be a conversation with the filmmakers), and throughout May on the “ŽMONĖS Cinema” home cinema platform.

The “Trumpas kinas” initiative of the Lithuanian short film agency “Lithuanian Shorts” was launched in 2019 with the aim of popularizing the short film genre and presenting topical, audience programs in cinema repertoires. During this year, more than 14 Lithuanian short films were shown on the big screens of cinemas, which were seen by almost 1000 viewers.

The screening of short films in Lithuanian cinemas is supported by the Lithuanian Cinema Center, the main information partner is LRT Epika.

More information about the program and the schedule of the film program: www.lithuanianshorts.com