Lithuanian Films and New Projects at the 37th Trieste Film Festival

Lithuanian cinema has a strong presence at the 37th Trieste Film Festival, where the feature films The Visitor, Renovation, and the documentary December are competing for the main awards. Alongside the competition, Lithuanian films addressing contemporary social and political issues will be screened in special sections, while filmmakers will present new projects at the accompanying industry event When East Meets West, where the annual Italian-Baltic Co-Development Award will also be presented.

One of the most important platforms for Central and Eastern European cinema, the Trieste Film Festival takes place from January 16 to 24 and features over 120 events, including competition screenings, special programs, masterclasses, and meetings with renowned filmmakers. The festival opened with Franz, a biographical film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, dedicated to the life and work of Franz Kafka.

Two Lithuanian films are selected for the Main Feature Film Competition: The Visitor by Vytautas Katkus and Renovation by Gabrielė Urbonaitė. Both films premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where The Visitor received the Best Director Award, and have since continued successful festival journeys across Europe and beyond. Renovation is scheduled for theatrical release in Lithuania this spring.

In the Documentary Competition, the Polish–Lithuanian co-production December, directed by Grzegorz Paprzycki, explores the final month of the year as a reflection on contemporary society’s attitude toward the migrant crisis. The film is co-produced in Lithuania by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė (Just a Moment).

The festival program also includes Laguna by Šarūnas Bartas, an intimate documentary essay dedicated to the memory of the director’s daughter Ina Marija Bartaitė, and Two Prosecutors by Sergei Loznitsa, co-produced by Uljana Kim (Studio Uljana Kim), which examines human vulnerability in the face of a totalitarian regime.

In the special program Queer Visions, highlighting the contribution of Central and Eastern European cinema to LGBTQ+ discourse, Romas Zabarauskas’s detective drama The Activist is presented. The film follows a young man who embarks on a search for the killer of his activist boyfriend.

A retrospective dedicated to the everyday lives of women in the former Eastern Bloc – from the post-war revolutionary emancipation to the alienation caused by double burdens – features Gediminas Skvarnavičius’s short film Why Does Medea Weep (1979), a humorous story centered on a futuristic dairy museum.

Held alongside the festival, the industry event When East Meets West takes place for the 16th time, bringing together producers, directors, distributors, investors, and festival programmers to discover new projects and engage in professional development and networking. For the second consecutive year, special attention is given to the Baltic countries.

In the Co-Production Forum, the Lithuanian–Estonian feature project What Kind of People Are You, directed by Lina Lužytė and produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, is presented. The story begins with a minor traffic accident caused by 75-year-old Ona, which triggers increasing pressure from a wealthy man. After enduring prolonged injustice, Ona ultimately chooses an unexpected form of revenge that briefly restores a sense of balance.

The Works in Progress: Last Stop Trieste program showcases the UK–Lithuanian documentary Now You See It, directed by Alessandro Leonardi and co-produced by Rasa Miškinytė (Era Film). The film follows a young physicist preparing a groundbreaking experiment, venturing into the uncertainty and randomness of quantum physics and questioning the limits of human perception.

Meanwhile, Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s feature project Dice-Ching-O-Mat, produced by Uljana Kim, has been selected for Works in Progress: This Is IT. The film is a fantastical journey of self-discovery, following Vilis, a PhD in Asian Studies who loses his memory after a mysterious incident in the CUBE and must complete an enigmatic task in order to uncover his true identity.

Lithuanian producers are also participating in the professional development activities of Inspirational Labs: Andrius Lekavičius (Cinema Cartel), Gabrielė Vaičiūnaitė (Why Films), and Jurgita Rakauskaitė (Make It Happen). In addition, Viktorija Rimkutė (Dansu) takes part in the EAVE Slate program, dedicated to companies developing project slates.

Among the industry highlights is a case study session led by Marija Razgutė, producer at M-Films, focusing on strategies for managing independent film project slates. Drawing on practical experience and concrete examples, the session explores decision-making processes, challenges, and best practices in international film production.

As every year, When East Meets West will include the presentation of the Italian-Baltic Co-Development Award, worth €40,000. The prize is funded by the Italian Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual (€20,000) and jointly by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the National Film Centre of Latvia and the Estonian Film Institute (€20,000).

On the cover – a still from the What Kind of People Are you.