All news

Renowned German short film festival to showcase Lithuanian short films from the past two decades

2022-05-10

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is considered the oldest short film festival in the world and is one of the largest international platforms for the short form.For years, the Festival has also enjoyed an excellent reputation in the art scene, which has discovered short films and videos for itself.


In 2022, the 68th edition of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen features a rich diversity of Lithuanian short film and video art production as the Baltic country becomes the festival’s Country in Focus. Three programmes called “Country Focus: Whispering Loudly”, presenting a unique overview of Lithuanian cinema and show that Lithuania is a highly vibrant cultural nation with numerous filmmakers and artists whose work is recognised on an international basis. The programmes have been curated by Deimantas Narkevičius, one of the most consistent and widely recognised Lithuanian artists on the international art scene. In 2018, he received the Grand Prix of the City of Oberhausen for his video art piece Stains and Scratches.

 Of the programme, Narkevičius said:

 “The development of the Lithuanian short film can be divided into two separate traditions that have been rather unconnected for a long time. Three Lithuanian short film programmes at the 68th Oberhausen International Film Festival are conceived as an attempt to combine into a common screening experience significantly different image-building traditions co-existing as two parallel artistic communities in, essentially, one city – Vilnius, which have not yet explored the potential of reciprocal creative synergy.

The “Country Focus: Whispering Loudly“ programmes present 17 works of Lithuanian filmmakers and artists, produced during the 2015-2021 period: “My Birth“ (dir. Eglė Davidavičė), “Community Gardens“ and “Places“ (dir. Vytautas Katkus), “Techno, Mama“ (dir. Saulius Baradinskas), “Dummy“ (dir. Laurynas Bareiša), “The Juggler“ (dir. Skirmanta Jakaitė), “The Last Day“ (dir. Klaudija Matvejevaitė), “Mono No Aware“ (dir. Emilija Juzeliūnaitė), “Man With a Render Animation Camera“  (dir. Žilvinas Baranauskas), “Corolla“ (dir. Gintautė Skvernytė), “I Put On The Ivy Crown“ (dir. Emilija Noreikaitė), “Sirenomelia“ and “Footstones in Night Writing“ (dir. Emilija Škarnulytė), “Helpless Cure“ (dir. Milda Januševičiūtė, Miša Skalskis),  “Demikhov Dog“ and „Agents“ (dir. Anastasia Sosunova), “Feedback“ (dir. Simona Žemaitytė).

Rimantė Daugėlaitė, Head of Lithuanian Short Film Agency, said:

“The invitation to become a guest country of this year’s festival gives significant recognition to the whole Lithuanian film industry. This is an exceptional opportunity to present the Lithuanian short film and video art “scene” to s general festival audience and industry professionals, introducing the works of the new generation and experienced filmmakers and artists, who clearly reflect the style and trends of national film and video production.”

The festival takes place between 30 April – 9 May. The Lithuanian focus programmes will be presented on 6 May at 1.15 p.m. and 8.15 p.m.

The Lithuanian programmes are presented by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency Lithuanian Shorts with the support of Lithuanian Film Centre and Lithuanian Culture Attaché in Germany.

Lietuvos kino centro facebook

News subscription