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LITHUANIAN CINEMA: TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS Mar. 14 - 20
The Facets Cinémathèque and the Lithuanian Consulate General in Chicago in participation with the Lithuanian American TV are very pleased to announce this exhibition of Lithuanian cinema. This is the first time that a retrospective has been curated to showcase the outstanding and distinguished features and documentary films from the early 60's, when Lithuanian cinema (which began in the Soviet era) switched from its progaganda origins, to the more personal works of traditional and independent filmmakers of post-communist Lithuania. Lithuanian Cinema: Traditions and Transitions is a part of cultural and social events in Lithuania and the city of Chicago (with the largest Lithuanian community outside Lithuania) to commemorate a 750th anniversary of the coronation of the first Lithuanian king Mindaugas and Lithuanian statehood. It was made possible by The Consulate General of Lithuania in Chicago, the Lithuanian Film Studio (Vilnius), Lithuanian National TV, and the Lithuanian American TV (Chicago). Admission to the exhibition is $6.00 for Facets members and $8.00 for non-members. ELZE'S LIFE Fri., Mar 14 at 7:30 p.m. Sun., Mar 16 at 2 p.m. This poignant drama is set in the exotic but barren region of East Prussia (Lithuania Minor)at the turn of the 20th century. Two fishing boats are struggling in the open seas in a deep fog, connecting through fate, fishery boss Grunbaum and humble fisherman Jurgaitis. When one boat keels over, Jurgaitis saves Grunbaum, but he is subsequently convicted for attempted murder. Jurgaitis' daughter, Elze, is taken in by the merchant Mykolas, and as she grows and matures, falls in love with Mykolas' son, Endrikie, a love that is doomed to repeat the destiny of Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Algimantas Puipa, Lithuania/Germany, 2000, 35mm, 139 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. Winner of the Best Director & Best Camera Awards at the Kinoshock Film Festival, Anapa, Russia NOBODY WANTED TO DIE Sat., Mar. 15 at 1:30 p.m. Mon., Mar. 17 at 9 p.m. A farm-set tale of family revenge worthy of Sergio Leone but equally steeped in Baltic rural literature, this Lithuanian drama was close enough to a thriller to become a nationwide hit after being dubbed into Russian. This Baltic Spaghetti Eastern (which has an impressive wordless ambush sequence in the middle), "vividly captures the skirmishes between clans of Lithuanian freedom fighters and Communists in the chaotic postwar period, setting its mythic tale of filial vengeance against a harsh landscape of forest and rock" (Cinémathèque Ontario) The "loaded" setting provides its own stories of Oedipal confusion and general lawlessness. Directed by Vytautas Zalakezicius, Lithuania, 1963, 106 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. THE FEELINGS Sat., Mar. 15 at 3:15 p.m. Wed., Mar. 19 at 7 p.m. In 1997, audiences and critics recognized The Feelings as the best Lithuanian film ever made. Different from the other popular films of that time, The Feelings did not adopt the sociological approach towards the problems of life and death, and did not have a political agenda. It is primarily about the foibles and the troubles caused by human passions. It is set in a coastal fishing village and the main characters are the twin brothers (actors Adomaitis and Budraitis, Nobody Wanted to Die), who become entangled in complicated relationships with the local women. This action packed drama is set in the post-war period, where an ex-soldier of Vermacht (actor Masiulis) is hiding. Directed by Algirdas Dausa and Almantas Grikevicius, Lithuania, 1968, 35mm, 90 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. WOLF TEETH NECKLACE Sat., Mar. 15 at 5 p.m. Mon., Mar. 17 at 7 p.m. There is a strange relic in Tadas' workshop, a wolf teeth necklace that was given to him by his father, who together with thousands of innocent people had suffered the hardships of deportation to Siberia. The necklace calls up memories of painter/writer Tadas' childhood and adolescence. At that time, Tadas lived in poverty with his mother, and she had to bear the burden of being a deportee's wife. Tadas was sent to live with his grandmother and his uncle, as his mother was not able to provide enough food for them in the city. He spent the brightest years of his childhood in the countryside, and he remembers the fairytales told to him by his aunt. Now as an adult, as he is reading his father's letters that were sent from Siberia, painful memories return about his father's betrayal, and Tadas is plagued by events that he cannot forget, nor ever forgive himself. Directed by Algimantas Puipa, Lithuania, 1997, 35 mm, 97 min. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. Winner of the Grand Prize at the Nordic Film Festival. THE CORRIDOR Sat., Mat. 15 at 7 p.m. Sun., Mar. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Bartas described his starkly poetic second feature as "a film about the extremes of exhaustion caused by loneliness, aggression, and love" in the post-Soviet experience. Set amongst the melancholy inhabitants of a rundown apartment building in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the film unfolds as an associative collage of memory fragments, shards of experience, and chance events amongst a number of the building's inhabitants, all connected by the metaphor of the corridor, a passage between "yesterday and today, containing many doors." As in the director's other works, narrative logic is eschewed in favor of the poetry of loss and desire, here made even more abstract by the haunting black-and-white cinematography. Directed by Sarunas Bartas, Germany/Lithuania 1994, BetaSP, 85 mins. No dialogue. DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM (VIDEO THEATRE) Sat., Mar. 15 at 7 & 9 p.m. FROM THE LIFE OF ELVES In the village of Sauginiai an old woman Leonora resides with three dwarf children. All three still sleep in cribs, wear children's tights and none of them are over one meter tall. Without sentimentality the director has created a deeply emotional film poem about human loneliness and selfless love - about small people and big hearts. Directed by Janina Lapinskaite, Lithuania, 1996, 25 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. VENUS AND A TOMCAT OR FROM THE LIFE OF BUTTERFLIES Nadia, Ramute and Terese tell us their life stories. They worked as models for various artists. They didn't make a lot of money, but they liked what they did. Directed by Janina Lapinskaite, Lithuania, 1997, 23 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. THE LIFE OF VENECIJUS AND CEZARIS' DEATH Venecijus, in his late forties is left by his wife. He tries to deal with his loneliness with the help of a piglet Cezaris. Venecijus tries to commit to his words: don't hand yourself today, if you can do it tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow you will not have to do it at all. Directed by Janina Lapinskaite, Lithuania, 2002, 55 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. NUT BREAD Sun., Mar 16 at 4:30 p.m. Wed., Mar 19 at 9 p.m. This playful reminiscence of childhood, adolescence, and first love in a small provincial town, is one of the most lyrical films in the Lithuanian cinema. The complexity of human relations is portrayed in a tragicomical manner, and the arising paradoxical situations are enhanced by the masterful music of Viaceslav Ganelin. Directed by Arunas Zebriunas, Lithuania, 1977, 35mm, 68 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. JONAS MEKAS x 3 Tue., Mar 18 at 7 p.m. Thu., Mar 20 at 7 p.m. SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ANDY WARHOL "In Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas chronicles not only the great pop artist, but also the social and cultural excitement that swirled around him, throbbing to a hypnotic Velvet Underground beat." - 28th New York Film Festival. Directed by Jonas Mekas, 1965-82 (Completed in June 1990), 16mm, 35 mins. ZEFIRO TORNA OR SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF GEORGE MACIUNAS "Images from the life of George Maciunas. Includes footage I took of George in 1952, at his parents house, with his father and mother and sister Nijole. Bits of Fluxus events and performances, and picnics with friends (Almus, Warhol, Lennon, Yoko Ono, etc.), ...and myself reading from the diareis written during last ten months of George's life". (Jonas Mekas) Directed by Jonas Mekas, U.S.A., 1992, 16mm, 34 mins. THIS SIDE OF PARADISE. FRAGMENTS OF AN UNFINISHED BIOGRAPHY "Unpredictably, as most of my life's key events have been, for a period of several years of late sixties and early seventies, I had the fortune to spend some time, mostly during the summers, with Jackie Kennedy's and her sister Lee Radziwill's families and children. Cinema was an integral, inseparable, as a matter of fact a key part of our friendship. The images in this film, with a few exceptions, all come from the summers Caroline and John Jr. spent in Montauk. These were summers of happiness, joy and continuous celebrations of life and friendships. These were the days of Little Fragments of Paradise." (Jonas Mekas) Directed by Jonas Mekas, 1999, 16mm, 35 mins. DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
FILMMAKER ARUNAS MATELIS IN PERSON! Tue., Mar 18 at 9 p.m. FLIGHT OVER LITHUANIA Non-stop flying over the fields, roofs, churches, streets of the old towns of Lithuania. The film was made for the World Expo 2000. Directed by Audrius Stonys, Arunas Matelis, Lithuania, 2000, BetaSP, 9 mins. No dialogue. THE DREAMS OF CENTENARIANS The Dreams of Centenarians represents classical Lithuanian documentary. It offers a glimpse at the lives of those who have lived for over a hundred years in Lithuanian village. Directed by Robertas Verba, Lithuania, 1969, 35mm, 17 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. EARTH OF THE BLIND There is nothing special in being blind. However, the intonations of the film make the audience aware of a man's life which is full of sounds, shapes, and contrasting light and darkness. All of these things help to reveal one's loneliness. Directed by Audrius Stonys, Lithuania, 1991, 35mm, 28 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. ALONE A girl is going to prison to visit her mother. This is film about a small child and his vast loneliness. Directed by Audrius Stonys, Lithuania, 2001, 35mm, 16 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. UNFINISHED TALES OF JERUSALEM Strange men in uniforms arrive at a village in Lithuania. Some workers are on their way to the factory. Everything is ready for take off. Vicious elements are fighting Christ, guarded by his angels in ancient ceremonies. Unfinished Tales from Jerusalem is based on a strange pagan tradition, still preserved in only one village in Zemaitija (a part of Lithuania). With its calm rhythm, it opens up a meditative space, where each viewer can create his own tale. Directed by Arunas Matelis, Lithuania, 1996, 35mm, 30 mins. In Lithuanian with English subtitles. Filmmaker Arunas Matelis will be here in person for a Q & A after the screenings on Tuesday, Mar. 18 at 9 p.m. Tickets: $8, $6 for members. FREE for Patron Circle members. For advance tickets, call the Facets Cinémathèque hotline: 773-281-4114. |
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