Five: Tales of KGB
In the central avenue of Vilnius there is a beautiful neoclassical palace, the perfect spot for a tourist photo. But behind the smart appearance and the Ionic columns was once the KGB’s Lithuanian headquarters and its prisons. For over fifty years the building was the emblem of occupation and repression. The lives of dissidents, KGB agents and interrogators crossed, were changed and sometimes were ended behind those walls. FIVE offers an immersive experience into the 80’s world of the KGB, and 5 people whose lives were affected by it. All our characters in the story entered the building, and left it a different person, no matter which side they were on.
Baltic UXO
Munition dumping into the seas and oceans was a crude yet common practice after the first and second world wars. 70 years later, this heritage rears its head - spreading disease among Baltic fish, stopping marine construction projects, and endangering the coastal economy and tourism. Small disparate groups of scientists collect countless data to bring the subject of munition clearance into the political and military agendas.
The film takes the audience on a journey where step by step the viewers are exposed to the dangerous secrets of the Baltic. It dives into the life of small microorganisms and continues to the bigger and bigger and more prominent areas affected by the munitions, unveiling the scale of this ecological, political, and economic problem. Everything all the way up to giant marine construction projects and militaries are now dealing with consequences of the decisions made in the past.
The affected areas, organisms, and human activities themselves act as the main protagonists of the film – inviting the viewer into a visual journey, underscored by a sci-fi-ish underwater-like soundscape, for them to leave with questions such as: Could this have been avoided? Can this be resolved? Or are humans made for slow self-destruction either way?
The film takes the audience on a journey where step by step the viewers are exposed to the dangerous secrets of the Baltic. It dives into the life of small microorganisms and continues to the bigger and bigger and more prominent areas affected by the munitions, unveiling the scale of this ecological, political, and economic problem. Everything all the way up to giant marine construction projects and militaries are now dealing with consequences of the decisions made in the past.
The affected areas, organisms, and human activities themselves act as the main protagonists of the film – inviting the viewer into a visual journey, underscored by a sci-fi-ish underwater-like soundscape, for them to leave with questions such as: Could this have been avoided? Can this be resolved? Or are humans made for slow self-destruction either way?
Dance Plus City
Dance Plus City is a series of 8 video narratives that intertwine static, heavy, textured architectural spaces from different eras with the remarkably vibrant bodies of contemporary dancers moving in all directions. The project has all the keys to open up wider international European hearts; it is short, attractive, has lots of dance, music, and movement, a variety of different interiors and exteriors, and presents different cultures, and different countries.
There will be one main theme for all 8 films directed by 8 directors in 4 different countries, The theme falls under the idea of movement, flow, and circulation. We want to explore spaces dedicated to the movement of ships, bodies, souls, ideas, memory, daily circulation, the flow. We will be filming at a school, a shipping terminal, a crematorium, a stadium, a museum, and other locations which have “movement” in themselves.
Another very important aspect of the movement is the international movement of creators. We have chosen the three Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as our neighbor Ukraine, which is very close to all of us today. We have invited directors from all four countries who will work outside their home countries. We hope to reveal both local buildings and contemporary dancers through the eyes of a guest.
There will be one main theme for all 8 films directed by 8 directors in 4 different countries, The theme falls under the idea of movement, flow, and circulation. We want to explore spaces dedicated to the movement of ships, bodies, souls, ideas, memory, daily circulation, the flow. We will be filming at a school, a shipping terminal, a crematorium, a stadium, a museum, and other locations which have “movement” in themselves.
Another very important aspect of the movement is the international movement of creators. We have chosen the three Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as our neighbor Ukraine, which is very close to all of us today. We have invited directors from all four countries who will work outside their home countries. We hope to reveal both local buildings and contemporary dancers through the eyes of a guest.
The Poor Cry Too
In a Mexican restaurant in Vilnius, TV sets are playing old telenovelas. Renata, 40, sits down for dinner with her two early teen daughters who are dumbfounded by the visuals. She tells them how she was obsessed with these TV series when she was little.
The film follows several Lithuanian women from different generations who were all big fans of Latin American telenovelas in the 1990s. Telenovelas shook women's inner worlds across many post-Soviet countries. Stores would close, streets would empty, even cows were milked according to the telenovela schedule. In contrast to the Communist propaganda on TV, Mexican telenovelas presented women who were passionate, sensual, and expressive.
To understand the origins of this mass media product, the film takes us to Mexico where we meet the legendary actress Veronica Castro from The Rich Also Cry. She tells us about the telenovela business, her 1992 trip to Russia, and how she was shocked by the “machismo” culture in the region, just like in Mexico.
“Telenovelas literally helped me survive,” Renata tears up as she recalls how she used to daydream of her real father appearing to save her from the physically abusive stepdad, just like in telenovelas. Now, a renowned TV host, Renata works on social reality show “TV Aid” helping ordinary people solve their issues. In Lithuania, every third woman experiences domestic violence and Renata is working to prevent it.
Renata joins the documentary crew on her first trip to Mexico, where she meets her childhood telenovela stars. But more importantly, through chats with regular women, she explores the gender issues in Mexico, and asks how and why a product created by and for Latin American societies became so popular in Eastern Europe? And what can we learn from each other today?
Using telenovelas as an unexpected lens, the film dives into the issues of domestic abuse, gender roles, the evolution of femininity, sexuality, romantic relations, and feminism in the post-Soviet region.
The film follows several Lithuanian women from different generations who were all big fans of Latin American telenovelas in the 1990s. Telenovelas shook women's inner worlds across many post-Soviet countries. Stores would close, streets would empty, even cows were milked according to the telenovela schedule. In contrast to the Communist propaganda on TV, Mexican telenovelas presented women who were passionate, sensual, and expressive.
To understand the origins of this mass media product, the film takes us to Mexico where we meet the legendary actress Veronica Castro from The Rich Also Cry. She tells us about the telenovela business, her 1992 trip to Russia, and how she was shocked by the “machismo” culture in the region, just like in Mexico.
“Telenovelas literally helped me survive,” Renata tears up as she recalls how she used to daydream of her real father appearing to save her from the physically abusive stepdad, just like in telenovelas. Now, a renowned TV host, Renata works on social reality show “TV Aid” helping ordinary people solve their issues. In Lithuania, every third woman experiences domestic violence and Renata is working to prevent it.
Renata joins the documentary crew on her first trip to Mexico, where she meets her childhood telenovela stars. But more importantly, through chats with regular women, she explores the gender issues in Mexico, and asks how and why a product created by and for Latin American societies became so popular in Eastern Europe? And what can we learn from each other today?
Using telenovelas as an unexpected lens, the film dives into the issues of domestic abuse, gender roles, the evolution of femininity, sexuality, romantic relations, and feminism in the post-Soviet region.