Premieres and Industry Events Mark Lithuania’s Presence in Warsaw

This year’s Warsaw International Film Festival programme features six films involving Lithuanian filmmakers. Two films will premiere in the International Competition: Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s latest feature, Dice-Ching-o-Mat, and The Child, a drama co-produced with Lithuania.

The Warsaw International Film Festival is an A-list international festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Known for its focus on emerging talent and independent cinema, it has showcased work by directors such as Michael Haneke, Asghar Farhadi and Paweł Pawlikowski before they gained worldwide recognition.

Selected for the International Competition at the festival, which opens today, Dice-Ching-o-Mat is Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s sixth feature film. It is produced by Uljana Kim of Studio Uljana Kim.

The story follows Vilis, a professor of Asian studies who believes that understanding life is enough, without having to experience it emotionally. As he tries to reconnect with his children, the film raises universal questions: how do we relate to those closest to us? Could we do more for them?

The film was co-produced with Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Its main cast includes Dainius Gavenonis, Vilma Raubaitė, Adelė Šuminskaitė, Vaidilė Juozaitytė and Maksim Semionov.

Also selected for the International Competition is The Child, a Latvian–Lithuanian co-production directed by Linda Olte, with Lithuanian co-producer Klementina Remeikaitė of Afterschool.

At 37, Zane and Kaspars seem to have everything: love, careers, a home and shared hobbies. Yet they have spent ten years trying to have a child. After turning to fertility clinics, diets, churches and healers, they reach a crossroads. Kaspars gradually accepts that life can be fulfilling even without children, while Zane cannot let go of her dream of becoming a mother and is ready to do whatever it takes.

The film’s Lithuanian crew includes costume designer Fausta Naujalė and sound designer Julius Grigelionis.

Two further films, How to Divorce During the War and Blue Baby, will screen in “Animus. Cinema of Values”, a section exploring social responsibility, moral choices and universal values.

Directed by Andrius Blaževičius, How to Divorce During the War had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where Blaževičius received the directing award.

This emotional drama centres on Marija, an ambitious department head at an advertising agency, and Vytas, a film director searching for direction in his own life. When Marija finally finds the courage to tell him she wants a divorce, she chooses the worst possible moment for an honest conversation.

The film stars Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, Marius Repšys and Amelija Adomaitytė. It was co-produced with Luxembourg, Ireland and the Czech Republic.

Making its world premiere in Warsaw, Blue Baby, directed by Klaus Härö, is a co-production between Finland, Bulgaria and Lithuania, with Lithuanian co-producer Artūras Dvinelis of Filmai LT.

The film follows the parallel and intersecting lives of two women: Inka, an exhausted single mother and nurse, and Leni, an anxious young mother. Both must confront failings in the healthcare system, personal loss and difficult moral choices. Although they find themselves on opposing sides, they discover common ground when human life and dignity take precedence over ideology.

The Lithuanian crew includes sound designer Saulius Urbanavičius and costume designer Rasa Taujanskienė.

Presented at Cannes this spring, Ulya, a co-production between Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland directed by Viesturs Kairišs, will screen in the festival’s “Free Spirit” section, dedicated to independent, innovative and rebellious cinema. Its Lithuanian co-producer is Ieva Norvilienė of Tremora. Aleksas Kazanavičius appears in the cast, while Rūta Lečaitė designed the costumes.

The feature tells the story of legendary Latvian basketball player Uljana Semjonova. In Latvia in 1964, a teenager whose exceptional height sets her apart is invited to join a basketball team. She must decide whether to hide from the world or embrace what makes her different and pursue a career in sport.

The animated short Stolen Colors will screen in the “Family Cinema Weekend” programme. Directed by Gaute Hesthagen and Tomas Juchnevič, it is produced by Dovydas Vilkelis of Animatrix, with artwork by Giedrius Kriaučiūnas. The film was co-produced with Norway and Bulgaria.

Stolen Colors follows detectives Cameron and Pak, who are hired to investigate an unusual theft in a city obsessed with colour. In this world, colours are worth as much as money is in ours, and everyone tries to look as colourful as possible – at least those who can afford to. Once they catch the thieves, the detectives face a decision that puts their entire reputation at stake: should they enforce the law and return the colours to the city, or do what is right and lose both their fee and the “100% of cases solved” claim on their business card?

Lithuanian film professionals will also take part in other festival activities. Rimantė Daugėlaitė-Cegelskienė, head of the Lithuanian Shorts and the Vilnius Short Film Festival, will serve on the Short Film Competition jury.

The festival will also host a programme of industry events. The Warsaw Co-Production Forum will present Funny and Sad Life of George, a feature in development by director Eglė Vertelytė and producer Lukas Trimonis of In Script, inspired by the life and ideas of Fluxus founder George Maciunas.

The film centres on Julija, a young Lithuanian artist living in New York who is trying to revive Fluxus today. George is her ideal, embodying playfulness and freedom. But when she is forced to finish her master’s thesis about him, she encounters Jonathan, a Fluxus scholar who knows a very different George: a contradictory, lonely man who sacrificed everything for art. As the myth she has built around him begins to unravel, Julija starts to question her own way of life.

The industry programme will also feature a discussion on the Lithuanian film industry with Lithuanian Film Centre representative Deimantas Saladžius and producers Uljana Kim and Lukas Trimonis. The conversation will explore the factors behind Lithuanian cinema’s recent successes, the strengths of the country’s audiovisual sector and opportunities for international collaboration.

On the cover – a still from Dice-Ching-o-Mat.

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