Special Programme „Baltic Ways“  

 Baltic Way

This documentary by Audrius Stonys and Arūnas Matelis is a lyrical and nostalgic memoir of the Baltic Way, which happened on August 23rd, 1989. The film shows how united and determined the Lithuanian people were in their pursuit of becoming a free and dignified nation in a sovereign state. The film starts and ends with fragments from Vytautas Mačernis’ poem “To the Heights”, as we observe people approaching the roads, lighting up candles, traveling on cars and helicopters to join hands in a human chain. The film has little commentary or explanatory remarks, but the depicted scenes have an emotional charge that gives a powerful outlook on one of the most important and decisive moments of recent times in Europe.

Audrius Stonys

Stonys graduated from the Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius. In 1989, he did an internship at the John Mekas Film Anthology Archive in New York. He have received many prestigious awards including European Film Academy’s Felix Prize. His retrospectives and film nights were held in Switzerland, France, Russia, Israel, Czech Republic.

Selected Filmography

Open the Door to Him Who Comes, 1989
Earth of the Blind, 1992
Antigravitation, 1995
Cenotaph, 2013
Woman and the Glacier, 2016
Bridges of Time, 2018

Arūnas Matelis

The filmmaker and producer studied at Vilnius University, Faculty of Mathematics and graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. In 1992 founded one of the first independent film studio “Nominum” in Lithuania. A. Matelis has directed 8 and produced about 20 films. 

Selected Filmography

Giants of Pelesa, 1989
From Unfinished Tales of Jerusalem, 1996
Flight over Lithuania or 510 Seconds of Silence, 2000
Before Flying Back to Earth, 2005 
Wonderful Losers. A Different World, 2017

Year of the Dragon

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the events that lead to Estonia declaring its independence occurred during the year of the Dragon. On the road to freedom, the Estonian nation needed patience, determination and will, all of which are reflected in the title of this film by Estonian documentary filmmaker Andres Sööt. The documentary precisely and chronologically recreates the social and political events in 1988, starting with the establishment of the Estonian National Front in April and leading up to the declaration of sovereignty by the Estonian Supreme Soviet on the 16th of November.
Sööt adds irony and humor to the film by documenting the absurdity of everyday life in Soviet Estonia, especially with the issue of the shortage of goods, when basic everyday needs like food were not available to buy all around the USSR.
“Year of the Dragon” puts an emphasis on the unity and collectiveness of Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians on a difficult road to Independence.

Andres Sööt

Graduated from Moscow Institute of Cinematography as a cinematographer in 1963, he worked as an assistant to a cinematographer in Tallinn studio of cinema films in 1954-1957. He started his own studio “Monofilm” in 1993 but continued to cooperate with other film studios as well. Andres Sööt was the chairman of Estonian Filmmakers’ Union in 1999 to 2000.

Selected Filmography

511 Best Photographs of Mars, 1965
Conductors, 1975
Midsummer Day, 1978
The Year of the Horse, 1991
The Phantom, 2010
Camino, 2011
Timeless, 2012