Lithuania Cinema in the Spotlight

Lithuania, similar to its fellow Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, has been a successful and popular destination for film and TV productions, attracting the likes of Netflix hit series Stranger Things and such Hollywood blockbusters as Christopher Nolan’s Tenet thanks to financial incentives, a well-developed infrastructure, natural and urban landscapes and skilled crews. But Lithuanian creatives are also increasingly bringing their voices to international film festivals. Case in point: The 77th edition of the Locarno International Film Festival.

Despite a population of only around three million people, the country is represented by two films in the international competition, the main competitive section at Locarno whose lineup consists of 17 movies overall. One of the two Lithuanian entries is a co-production with neighbor Latvia. Plus, the fest will screen a puppet animation short that is a co-production between the third Baltic state, Estonia, and Lithuania.

This Lithuanian presence is the latest sign that the efforts by the country to develop and support its film industry and broader creative sector since reclaiming independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 are paying off.

“It is a huge achievement,” Laimonas Ubavičius, the director of the Lithuanian Film Center, tells THR. “We are extremely happy to have two Lithuanian films in the [main] competition at an incredible festival like Locarno. It probably shows the approach [and success] of our new generation of directors and creators.”

He points to the likes of Marija Kavtaradze, who won the best director honor at Sundance in 2023 in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition for Slow, and Laurynas Bareiša, whose debut feature Pilgrims won the film honor in Venice’s Horizons (Orizzonti) section, as examples of recent successes at big-name festivals. And he points out that the two Locarno films are a debut feature and a second film, from the just-mentioned Bareiša actually, which can often be a challenge for directors. “So, for a small film industry from a small country like Lithuania, that is a great achievement,” Ubavičius concludes.

Plus, the short film competition in Cannes has also had a strong Lithuanian presence in recent years. The 2024 edition featured Eglė Razumaitė’s Ootid, about girls at a summer camp, and the 2022 edition included Vytautas Katkus’ Cherries, about a recently retired man who invites his son to help him in the garden.

Ubavičius’ team’s focus has been on supporting new talents and voices. “We have a long film history and tradition, including what we call the golden film period of the 1970s,” he explains. “In addition to having the older generation, we are extremely happy to have the young generation of directors and creators coming up. So we have a really healthy film industry.”

The Lithuanian Film Center, founded only 12 years ago, has been looking to ensure financial and other support. “We are running what I call step-by-step financial instruments to support all the stages of creation for creators,” from individual grants for up to 12 months for young writers looking to work on a script and development support to production and later distribution and international festival support,” highlights Ubavičius. “These themes help to support every stage necessary. We are not a financially very strong industry, but the state support is growing.”

Beyond Lithuanian films using the country’s film incentives, Ubavičius also lauds collaborations with the Baltic neighbors and such countries as Spain, Sweden and Poland that ensure a healthy flow of projects involving Lithuanian creatives. “We are having quite a number of co-productions every year, from 10 to 15, financed by the Lithuanian Film Center,” he highlights. “The geography is also getting wider. And we have a variety of genres.”

Does the current crop of Lithuanian filmmakers share anything in terms of stories or themes? “I would say they take on topics of an individual’s psychology and human behavior and the problems related to them,” the film center boss tells THR. “We have that romantic approach and interest in the deep storytelling of difficult issues or problems related to humans.”

The stories the Lithuanian filmmakers tell may be locally focused but have wider, even universal, resonance, Ubavičius believes. “Toxic is about a really important international issue that you face in many countries where you have girls who are approached to become models,” Ubavičius explains.

Vilnius International Film Festival CEO Algirdas Ramaska also told THR earlier this year about the Lithuanian up-and-comers who are making a name for themselves on the fest circuit. “We have a very, very powerful young generation of filmmakers, and the number of productions is skyrocketing,” he said. “Also, the young filmmakers have their own cinematic voice. They are so powerful not only nationally, but internationally.”

Below is a closer look at the three Lithuanian films in the Locarno77 selection.

Akiplėša (Toxic) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, screening in Locarno’s Concorso Internazionale program, or international competition.

Written and directed by Bliuvaitė, her feature debut is based on her own experiences as a teenager and world premieres at Locarno.

The coming-of-age drama focuses on 13-year-old Maria, who is abandoned by her mother and forced to live with her grandmother in a bleak industrial town. “During a violent clash on the street, Maria meets Kristina, a girl of the same age who is striving to become a fashion model,” reads the plot description. “In a bid to get closer to her, Maria enrolls in a mysterious modeling school, where the girls are preparing for the biggest casting event in the region. Her ambiguous relationship with Kristina and the intense, cult-like environment of the modeling school launch Maria on a quest to discover her own identity.”

Another summary of the film says: “Dreaming of an escape from the bleakness of their hometown, two teens form a unique bond at a local modeling school, where the promise of a better life pushes girls to violate their bodies in increasingly extreme ways.”

The cast is made up of a lot of young faces and includes Leva Rupeikaite, Vesta Matulyte, Giedrius Savickas, Vilma Raubaite and Egle Gabrenaite. Bendita Film Sales picked up international rights to the movie ahead of its Locarno debut.

Shot in Kaunas and Vilnius, Lithuania, the film was produced by Giedre Burokaite through Lithuania’s Akis Bado studio, with support from the Lithuanian Film Center and Lithuanian National Radio and Television. Juste Michailinaite served as the executive producer.

Bliuvaitė is excited to bring the film to the Swiss festival’s 17-titles-strong international competition lineup alongside another Lithuanian film. “This is an amazing and historic event for Lithuania to have two films in the main competition of this kind of festival,” she tells THR. “Everyone’s very happy in the community.”

She is thankful for the funding support for young creatives in her country. “Without the Lithuanian Film Center, there wouldn’t be Lithuanian cinema, especially when it comes to first films,” she says. “Around 10-ish years back, they restructured the funding system to find more debut films. That’s why a lot of Lithuanian films are first or second features because a lot of new artists get funding and it’s not extremely hard as in other countries because we have a special focus on that.”

She also notes the help filmmakers provide to each other. “Our community and industry is not very big in Lithuania because it’s a small country,” Bliuvaitė explains. “So we got a lot of other kinds of support while making this film from different producers, other directors, and scriptwriters. Everyone is happy for you. ‘I heard your film is going to be amazing. How can I help with some contacts to get you funded?’ I think that’s great.”

But the debut filmmaker also highlights that the recent success of Lithuanian movies on the festival circuit means higher expectations. “So there is a lot of pressure while you are making the film that you will go someplace,” Bliuvaitė shares. “There is more and more pressure for you personally.”

Does she see Lithuanian directors as having a common style or voice? “We absolutely have a voice,” Bliuvaitė tells THR. “But I would strongly disagree that we have a similar style. We are so different.” She points to the last film from her fellow Lithuanian filmmaker in the Locarno competition program to highlight their different creative styles.

“I think that’s why you get two Lithuanian films in the competition because they are different,” suggests Bliuvaitė. “We are very different. We want to be a part of Europe, and no longer an Eastern European country with no face, and we have a lot of voices and different backgrounds. That is our voice that we don’t have one label. It’s great to just have a style as a director and not a style as a director from that country.”

Seses (Drowning Dry) by Laurynas Bareiša (a Lithuania-Latvia co-production), screening in Locarno’s Concorso Internazionale program.

“Together with her sister Justė‘s family, Ernesta, her husband Lukas, and their son Kristupas are spending their weekend at a country house after her husband‘s victory in a mixed-martial arts tournament,” the plot description of another Lithuanian world premiere in the Locarno international competition starts off rather innocently. “The two families spend their time swimming in a nearby lake, having dinner and discussing family finances. After a near-tragic accident, the sisters become single mothers.”

Gelmine Glemzaite, Agne Kaktaite, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevicius are the main actors of the sophomore feature of Lithuanian director-writer-cinematographer Bareiša, which he wrote, directed and shot. Klementina Remeikaite of Lithuania’s Afterschool co-produced the movie, which was shot near Vilnius, with Matiss Kaza of Latvia’s Trickster Pictures.

The project received production support from the Lithuanian Film Center, co-production support from the National Film Center of Latvia, and co-production support from Eurimages. Alpha Violet is handling international sales rights.

Bareiša’s debut feature Pilgrims premiered at the 78th Venice Film Festival in 2021 where the crime drama won the Horizons section award for best film. It also became Lithuania’s entry for the best international feature film race at the 95th Academy Awards.

Bareiša was as positively surprised as anyone to see Locarno unveil two Lithuanian competition entries. “It’s hard to believe. I know Saulė. She’s great. I followed her short films and we know each other. It’s a really small community. But when you have two films in competition — I’m really proud. It’s a nice feeling.”

But the filmmaker highlights that the Lithuanian film community won’t rest on its laurels. “Sometimes we can get some of our films into important festivals, but our colleagues don’t get an international premiere,” he explains. “So it’s something we need to cherish. It doesn’t happen every day. And it’s not a fact that it will continue happening, so we need to keep strengthening.”

That’s why he also enjoys working with younger creatives in the country. “We need to keep bringing through new filmmakers and new ideas because we are a really small culture,” Bareiša tells THR. “And all of our films pre-1990s were part of the Soviet Union and were integrated into that narrative. Now we are free and we are kind of gaining our voice.”

Making that heard, including at top festivals, is important for him and other Lithuanian creators. “Small countries often get absorbed into this [broader] Western European, Middle European, Central European region. When I used to go to cinema festivals, I never saw another film from the Baltic countries, sometimes not even from central Europe. And our region has struggled to present itself. So I think now we need these films to start making and showing our culture because we are not Eastern European, we are not Slavic, we’re not Scandinavians, we’re something different. So this is huge.”

Is there anything all the up-and-coming filmmakers in Lithuania share? They typically know each other given the small film community but their voices and styles are “very distinct,” Bareiša says. “There is this feeling that we are unburdened by any one topic or any one historical circumstance. So, everyone’s trying to find these ideas and approaches that are original.”

His conclusion on today’s cinematic voices from Lithuania: “Our uniqueness is our ability to learn, to just go out and explore.” And because the country’s film and culture sector “is not somehow influenced by hardcore politics, we’re free in this way to explore unburdened.” The fact that Lithuania’s post-Soviet film boom ist still in its early stages also means less pressure than in some other countries, Bareiša suggests. “For example, contemporary Romanian filmmakers are always pushed by the Romanian New Wave, which was very distinct visually. They’re always compared to it.”

In comparison, “we’re free,” he says about himself and other filmmakers in Lithuania. And he emphasizes a shared ambition. “Our films are different, and that’s our huge advantage. We can be different and still be friends, not enemies. We’re working toward the same goal.”

Linnud Läinud (On Weary Wings Go By) by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (an Estonian-Lithuanian co-production), screening in Locarno’s Pardi di Domani program that features short and medium-length films focused on experimentation and innovative forms.

This porcelain puppet animation from Estonian artist and filmmaker Tuttelberg is 11 minutes long and features no dialogue. Tuttelberg is responsible for writing and directing it, as well as handling production design and DOP duties.

“As the autumn arrives, the birds fly to the South, the ground is covered with snow, and the winter begins,” reads the project’s plot description. “The animals and insects who are left behind hide from the cold and snow. The flowers are destroyed in the rough wind, the fragile porcelain animals crack and fall to pieces in the freezing cold. Only a small porcelain girl is left alone standing in the snowfall on the snowy landscape without nowhere to go or a place to hide.”

As such, the film continues the story of nature and porcelain animals that Tuttelberg started in the jungle in Mexico in her 2019 short Winter in the Rainforest. On both projects, Lithuania’s Art Shot worked as a co-producer. The new short was also co-produced by Fork Film in Estonia and received financing from the Lithuanian Film Center, the Estonian Film Institute, and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

“Lithuanian films are doing pretty well recently,” Art Shot founder and producer Agnė Adomėnė tells THR. “And we are very happy about such a rich representation of Lithuanian film in Locarno.”

She adds: “There are more directors of the same generation, younger directors, around 30 years old, who are really talented and have their own voice.”

The animation specialist is represented at Locarno in the form of a regional co-production on the animated short directed by Estonia’s Tuttelberg. Asked about the history of the three Baltic states collaborating on films, Adomėnė says: “For some reason, there was no collaboration for a very long time after we all regained independence from the Soviet Union. I don’t know why. Maybe we were a bit eager to go West. But in recent years it is getting more and more. It makes sense in terms of small-market neighbors and similar levels of funding. And the film centers collaborate a lot across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on funding in our region and collaborations in terms of markets where they have their stalls or booths together.”

How did she meet Estonian creative Tuttelberg? “A few years ago, she pitched this first film at the Baltic Pitching Forum here in Vilnius,” recalls Adomėnė. “And I was really interested in that film because it looked amazing. It is all those porcelain puppets shot in the real environment. But at the time, she was looking for partners to go to Mexico to shoot the film in the jungle, and, it was something that I couldn’t really help her with because I couldn’t find that kind of money in Lithuania to finance her trip.”

But the two had a great conversation, and a few years later, the director contacted the producer and needed a partner for the film’s post-production. “And that’s how we did it,” says Adomėnė. “We did all the post-production of the film in Lithuania with the sound design and all the visual post-production and editing to help her finish the film. And it was a similar co-production setup for this new film.”

Tuttelberg made On Weary Wings Go By in Estonia with some scenes shot on a coast in Norway, Adomėnė shares, also noting how unusual porcelain animation is. “It’s such a specific thing. Porcelain is not a very good material for puppet animation because it’s very fragile,” she explains. “It needs special attention and care to animate puppets like that. Anu-Laura did a lot herself. She did the puppets and their design herself. She also animated it partially herself. She had assistance for the animation but did a lot herself.”

But the creative skills wouldn’t end up on a screen if not for financial support. “The Lithuanian tax incentive for film production is very important and a very good tool that is also very accessible,” lauds Adomėnė. “What is different from other countries in Europe is that our 30 percent tax incentive is not limited in terms of an annual budget. So it’s not first-come, first-served. In Lithuania, there are no limits.”

Looking ahead, the producer is optimistic that her home country, and the broader region, will continue to have a strong presence on the film fest circuit. “Lithuanian films, and Baltic films in general, are really doing very well recently, and I hope we won’t stop here.”