Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania

Code of Tumas

December 2018 •Lithuanian

“Code of Tumas ” is an effort to show the well-known events and processes of history through the eyes of a direct person with a subjective and emotional look. Letters, publicism, all creations of Juozas Tumas Vaižgantas, also memories of his contemporaries make this reconstruction possible.

One in 3 million

December 2021 •Lithuanian

This is the first documentary about the singer Marijonas Mikutavičius. Marijonas Mikutavičius, who is celebrating his fiftieth birthday this year, has been on stage since he was 18 and his song "Trys milijonai (Three millions)" has been called Lithuania's second national anthem. In the film, director Eimantas Belickas allows the viewer to be with Marijonas in his intimate surroundings, without the mask. As one of the country's most popular singers, Marijonas is a man, a father, a Lithuanian citizen, just like many of us. The viewer can see this clearly in the film, but at the same time it becomes clear that creativity makes the singer a unique personality.

Antigravitation

January 1995 •Lithuanian

An isolated village in the Lithuanian countryside. Seated in her house, an elderly woman recites an old folk story. Then she climbs up the tall ladder that takes her to the rooftop of the church.

Monika Liu Eurovizija'22 Backstage

February 2023 •English

A short documentary on Monika Liu's Eurovision journey in Turin 2022.

Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR

February 2009 •English

A meditation on the time when the world watched as filmmaker Jonas Mekas' home country of Lithuania fought for independence. An immersion into the addictive grasp of the 24-hour news cycle, into a moment of major social upheaval, and into one very personal fixation of an obsessive chronicler. The film exists in a shortened, four-screen version as well as a one-screen, full-length document.

Gustav J.

May 1973 •German

Portrait of 80 year old Gustav J., born in Lithuania, who became a blacksmith and whose paths of life led him to East Prussia, Russia and finally to Germany.

The Shadow of Heaven

November 2008 •Lithuanian

It has been over one hundred years since M. K. Čiurlionis left his lasting imprint on Lithuanian culture. He was a composer, painter, genius, and madman who created an entirely new space, new context, and new universe.

Ancestral Code

November 2020 •Ukrainian

The documentary film ANCESTRAL CODE is a research into the origins of the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples, the search for their identity through the study of the melodism of Slavic ethnographic heritage. Nowadays many people talk about brotherhood, spiritual intimacy, affinity. The authors analyze the connection between the neighboring peoples of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus and Poland through music and folklore.

The Invisible Front

March 2014 •English

Between 1944–1953, courageous resistance movement took place in the Baltic region of Europe, uniting the partisan troops for struggle against the Soviet Union. “The Invisible Front” was a coded name used by the Soviet Interior forces to describe the resistance movement in Lithuania. Film depicts the story of the fighters through the words and experience of the partisan leader, Juozas Luksa, and interviews with eyewitnesses of those events - both the partisans and the Soviet fighters. Tales of horror, torture and courage are told in the rare archival footage that has never been screened before, and interviews with the surviving members of the resistance movement.

Burial

April 2022 •Lithuanian

With striking images and meticulous sound work, Burial reminds us of the paradoxical relationship between scientific development and the destruction of nature. Questioning the effects of human activity on the planet we inhabit and which we have put at risk, the film focuses on the unsolved issues of nuclear plants and nuclear activity.

I'll take Your Bread

January 1987 •Lithuanian

Documentary film showing authentic Lithuanian traditions & rituals during major seasonal festivals: Winter solstice, Mardi Gras, Easter, Midsummer.

Crossroads

April 1990 •Latvian

The film is an emotional story about fateful historical events in the 20th century, which took place in three Baltic countries- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The story is also about their efforts to gain independence.

Dance Alone

May 2021 •Lithuanian

Red Terror on the Amber Coast

January 2009 •English

Red Terror documents the soviet occupation of Lithuania and the resistance movements that sprang up in opposition to the brutal tactics used by the communists from 1941 up to 1991. Stories of deportation, life in the Gulag, exile to Siberia, KGB prison torture, confiscation of land are told by living survivors. Resistance fighters and those who aided them also share their stories for the first time to an American audience. Rare historical photos and moving images are used to bring these stories to life.

Arvydas Sabonis 11

December 2014 •Lithuanian

The film - an open, sincere, warm and funny story about Arvydas Sabonis life and career. This is particularly characteristic of a T-shirt with the number 11 worn out 2.20 m tall basketball giant Olympic and world champion, portrait.

Master and Tatyana

October 2015 •Lithuanian

Lithuanian photographer, the legend of Soviet Sixties' generation Vitas Luckus tragically passed away in 1987. Yet the life and times of the talented rebel still impassion and lead us to a journey questioning why, at all times, we are wary of those who are really free.

In the Lands of Mist

March 2024 •French

Does Europe also have its own animistic heritage, like Pachamama in South America and Shinto in Japan? If so, which one? In the Misty Lands, i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a sacred fire is lit on the winter solstice to celebrate the return of the sun and ancient beliefs that have been forgotten in the rest of Europe for thousands of years. Sophie Planque and Jérémy Vaugeois decided to take a journey on bicycles to experience the Baltic winter and meet the people who keep their ancestral culture alive. A unique heritage that reinforces a deep relationship with nature.

Going Home

October 1972 •English

A home movie by Adolfas Mekas and wife Pola Chapelle on their travels to Lithuania and Europe. It was filmed concurrently with the more highly regarded “Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania” by Jonas Mekas, brother to Adolfas.

Pan Tadeusz

October 1999 •Polish

A grand and patriotic tale of Poland's struggle for freedom just before Napoleon's war with Russia. Written in poetic style by Adam Mickiewicz, this story follows two feuding Polish families as they overcome their old conflicts and petty lives. However, they are able to unite as one with their patriotic and rebellious efforts to free the country they deeply love from Russian control.

Hannibal Rising

February 2007 •English

The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a med student he hones his appetite for the kill.