The programme "Short Film Day: Festivals’ Favorites" presents five Lithuanian short films that have been widely screened at international film festivals over the past five years. Featured in the A list film festivals, such as Cannes, Venice, Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, these films showcase the originality of Lithuanian cinema and the distinctive style of the contemporary filmmakers.
Each film tells a unique yet universal story, inviting viewers to explore the inner strength of the characters as they face life’s challenges. The films are filled with nostalgia and delve into complex family relationships, marked by a longing for closeness, though unspoken expectations and clearly visible alienation hinder mutual acceptance.
Between XNUMX and XNUMX, these films received the "Festivals’ Favorite" title, an award presented annually by the Lithuanian short film agency “Lithuanian Shorts” to the Lithuanian short film that traveled to the most film festivals that year.
The programme "Short Film Day: Festivals’ Favorites" is part of the “Lithuanian Shorts” event series, which celebrates International Short Film Day on December XNUMX. This tradition has been observed in Lithuania since XNUMX.
Programme:
The Last Day
dir. Klaudija Matvejevaitė–Duškina,,
Lithuania, 2017, fiction, 24 min.
How would you feel if you knew your exact date of death? A time comes when every person in the world can find it out. Beloglazovai family – Kolia, Lena, their daughter Sonia and teenage son Igor live in an old house in Vilnius. Today is the day when fourteen year old Igor must die. All family members know that and in their own way are trying to deal with this burdensome waiting.
The Juggler
dir. Skirmanta Jakaitė
Lithuania, 2018, animation, 11 min.
We live in the same house, but in different apartments, jobs, situations, beliefs, visions; each one in our own compartment, fooling ourselves that the world is one, and that it exists. Although sometimes it seems that the incomprehensible thread has almost been caught, and I am on a verge of understanding.
Community Gardens
dir. Vytautas Katkus,
Lithuania, 2019, fiction, 15 min.
This is the story of a cold relationship between a father and a son, which finally perishes in the vortex of indifference.
Techno, Mom
dir. Saulius Baradinskas,
Lithuania, 2021, fiction, 18 min.
Nikita loves listening to techno music and dreams of going to Berlin and visiting the famous club ‘Berghain’. His mother Irena doesn’t know about her son’s dreams and soon enough their mutual expectations will clash.
Cherries
dir. Vytautas Katkus,
Lithuania, 2022, fiction, 15 min.
A hot summer day. The cherry-tree branches are full of ripe berries, swaying from the wind and weight. A recently retired father invites his son to help him with the cherry picking in the garden. The father is not in a rush, as he now wants to spend more time with his son, leaving the cherries in the background. Working together and staying silent, they both realize how much time they’ve lost during those 30 years. The cherries bring the two men back to their first memories and let them experience them longer, as if to start all over again.