The renewed Vilnius City Film Festival "Kino pavasaris", which will be hosting cinemas for the 7th time from March 23-30, today revealed the entire program of the anniversary festival. It includes not only the latest and most beloved films, but also special screenings, festive meetings and famous guests.
Festival director Algirdas Ramaška says that although it is the birthday of "Kino pavasaris", the festival audience will receive gifts: "Kino pavasaris" is more special than ever this year. We will show more than 160 films, we will have special programs, non-traditional screenings. All that remains is to plan your vacation and immerse yourself in experiences that will remain in your memory for a lifetime," he assures. Tickets for "Kino pavasaris" films will be available for purchase from Tuesday, February 18 - they will be sold at a special price on that day.
"We have been preparing for the anniversary festival for several years, so I believe that this will be the best "Kino pavasaris", - says Konradas Kazlauskas, Executive Director of "Kino pavasaris", inviting everyone to enjoy good cinema shown in cinemas and non-traditional spaces, and maybe even films that have not been seen in 30 years, as well as meetings with filmmakers and exclusive events. "This is what a real birthday is about - about being together and the true joy of meetings and discoveries".
Special 30th Anniversary Programs, Events, and Guests
This year, celebrating the opening all weekend, "Kino pavasaris" will begin with exclusive screenings and events at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. The screening of the very first film of the festival, "Pont Neuf lovers" by Leos Carax, will also take place here, and halfway through "Kino pavasaris", the director himself will arrive in Lithuania. It is symbolic that he also visited the first festival 30 years ago, and this year he will also present his latest film "This is not me".
Another special guest of "Kino pavasaris" is the master of cinema, the famous Polish director, screenwriter and producer Agnieszka Holland. She is one of the best European filmmakers, having won numerous awards during her career. On this occasion, the festival will once again show her latest film "The Green Wall", which was widely watched by the audience of "Kino pavasaris" last year, after which the director will meet with the audience to talk about her work.
The anniversary "Kino pavasaris" has prepared more special 30th anniversary screenings. The festival will feature director Jean-Marc Vallée's work "Café de Flore" - this film, which was included in the program by the festival's founder Vida Ramaškienė as the most memorable in the 30 years of "Kino pavasaris". The former "Kino pavasaris" program compilers also remembered previous festivals and created a "30 pavasaris" program, which includes the films that impressed them the most throughout the history of "Kino pavasaris".
Lithuanian film premieres – from observational documentary to existential thriller
One of the long-standing goals of Kino Pavasaris is to draw attention to Lithuanian cinema and support its creators, so this year the Lithuanian film program will also occupy a special place at the festival. It will feature feature and documentary films by Lithuanian directors that have already toured festivals around the world, as well as those that are just beginning their journey.
Among them are Vytautas Puidokas' observational documentary film about 14-year-old Matas who finds himself in a remote community, Murmančios širdys, which shed light on Tallinn's "Black Nights", Nerijus Milerius and Lina Lužytė's existential thriller Johatsu, Giedrė Beinoriūtė's gentle and witty documentary about a XNUMXth-century tradition - Easter Eve in the village of Pievėnai, Sacrum ir profanum in Pievėnai, and Saulė Bliuvaitė's "Akiplėša", which tames a leopard in Locarno and brings back many awards.
Good news for short film fans – this year, a true marathon of Lithuanian short films will take place at the “Kino Pavasarys”. In collaboration with the Lithuanian short film agency “Lithuanian Shorts”, the festival will invite you to an 8-hour film screening – a program that will invite you to feel the pulse of contemporary Lithuanian short film with 30 short films.
From Oscar nominees to Jarmusch and the search for the old forest
As every year, in its anniversary year, “Kino pavasaris” will delight the audience with the most anticipated, most awarded and already beloved films in the world. The festival will feature the visually stunning and emotionally affecting epic “Brutalist” (dir. Brady Corbet), nominated for 10 Oscars, starring actor Adrien Brody. Also included are “Sing Sing Prison” (dir. Greg Kwedar), nominated for three Oscars, with the participation of Lithuanian artist Rūta Kiškytė, “I’m Still Here” (dir. Walter Salles), nominated for the same number of Oscars, and another contender for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film – “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof).
The festival will invite nature lovers to this year's special program "Where the Trees Grow". The films "Wild Hearts" (dir. Silje Evensmo Jacobsen), "Bird Songs" (dir. Kathleen Harris) and "Old Forest" (dir. Mindaugas Survila) will focus on the beauty of nature and its fragile balance. A special highlight of this program is the accompanying excursions to natural places in Vilnius: the festival will invite you to watch birds together or discover fragments of an old forest in Vingis Park.
This year, “Kino pavasaris” will also invite you on a journey through the early films of director Jim Jarmusch. His works, which combine minimalism with poetry, and existential questions with ironic humor, have captivated generations of film lovers. The festival will screen 7 films: “Eternal Vacation”, “Stranger Than Paradise”, “Out of the Law”, “Mysterious Train”, “Night on Earth”, “The Dead Man” and “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”.
The festival program can be found at Romuva: here.
The 30th Vilnius City Film Festival "Kino pavasaris" will take place from March 7 to 23.
The festival is supported by major partners ERGO and Telia Play, and is partially funded by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Vilnius City Municipality, and Creative Europe MEDIA.