Lithuania joins Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (aka PÖFF) with a rich line-up and a growing delegation of Lithuanian film professionals. 12 Lithuanian films and co-productions will be screened at this year’s programme, with the world premiere of Jurgis Matulevičius’ debut film “Isaac” (lit. Izaokas) being one of the most awaited events. 

Isaac will be competing with 17 other films from around the world for the best First Feature title. It is a psychological drama about two friends whose relationship is the result of the Holocaust, the atrocities of war, the traumas of the past, and love for the same woman in Soviet Lithuania. The film is based on the novel by Antanas Škėma.

Seven Lithuanian films and co-productions were selected for the Baltic Film Competition and will be competing for the best film title with films from Latvia and Estonia. Lithuania will be represented by Karolis Kaupinis’ feature film debut “Nova Lituania”, Ignas Jonynas’ “Invisible”(lit. Nematoma), Aistė Žegulytė’s documentary “Animus Animalis (a story about People, Animals and Things)” (lit. Animus Animalis (istorija apie žmones, žvėris ir daiktus), Tomas Vengris’ debut “Motherland” (lit. Gimtinė) and “Other side of silence” (lit. Kita tylos pusė),the newest film by Algimantas Puipa.

Also, several co-productions with Lithuania are included in the Baltic Film Competition program: Latvian-Lithuanian-Belgian-French feature “Oleg” (co-producer Lukas Trimonis, “InScript”) featuring Lithuanian actor Valentinas Novopolskij, Latvian-Lithuanian-Norwegian film “Spoon” (Karote) by Laila Pakalnina (co-producer Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, “Just a moment”), and the newest documentary by the famous Ukrainian director  Sergei Loznitsa “State Funeral” (a number of Lithuanian cinematographers participated in production of the film).

The Baltic Event, the largest international co-production market in North-Eastern Europe, will also welcome a number of Lithuanian film professionals, who will present their new projects at different categories of the event.

Two Lithuanian films will be presented at Baltic Event Works in Progress: “People We Know Are Confused” (lit. Žmonės, kuriuos pažįstame) by Tomas Smulkis (prod. Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, “Just a Moment”) and “Paralysis” (lit. Paralyžius) by Andrius Blaževičius (prod. Marija Razgutė, “M-Films”)will be presented for the first time and competing for EUR 10,000 prize for post-production works. Inesa Kurklietytė’s project “A Butterfly's Heart”(lit. Drugelio širdis, produced by Živilė Gallego, “Fralita Films”) was selected for the co-production market. 

TV Beats Forumwill pay special attention to HBO series “Chernobyl”, which was shot in Lithuania. Lithuanian producer Lineta Mišeikytė (UAB Baltic Film Services) will take part in the discussion to present the perspective of a local production house in the region working with a major studio on a large-scale project.

Emerging actor Povilas Jatkevičius will be searching for casting agencies in the Black Nights Stars program for talented young actors.

Lithuanian presence at the Baltic Event is supported by theLithuanian Film Centre.