Many film traditions began not in the imaginations of authors, but in the corridors of film schools. It is difficult to imagine how much Czech cinema would be appreciated around the world today. cinema without the Prague Academy of Performing Arts Film and Television School (FAMU). And what would we look like today without the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA)? LMTA vs. FAMU. Lithuanian film traditions vs. Czech. The student film competition program of the international Vilnius Documentary Film Festival (VDFF), which starts tomorrow, invites you to a duel between two film schools.
"Competitive programs give excitement to every festival, and togetherness gives life. But we didn't see the point in organizing another large international competition, in which a multitude of films on a wide variety of topics would participate. We were looking for a unique format," says Sonata Žalneravičiūtė, one of its authors, about the idea of the festival's student film competition.
The competition, which starts this year, will be held every two years. Each time, students from a different film school will be invited to challenge the talents of the Lithuanian Academy of Arts. “We wanted to contribute to the nurturing of the Lithuanian documentary film tradition. After all, we are talking about a school that we find at the origins of poetic documentary. That is why we decided that some of the contestants in the competition will always be Lithuanians,” explains S. Žalneravičiūtė.
This year, there are a total of 6 films in the competition program. FAMU will be represented by a poetic look at the score “I Don’t Know… Scores” (Anna Petruželová, 2018), a chronicle of the Tel Aviv transport hub “Central Bus Station” the station" (Tomáš Elšík, 2018) and the confrontation with juvenile gangsters "The Call of the Wild" (Karolína Peroutková, 2019). The testimony of an old man from one day "The Invisible Man" (Viktoras Gineitis, 2019), the portrait of a fitness athlete "Natalija" (Petras Kuneika, 2019) and the acquaintance with the guardians of the Lithuanian language "The Commission" (Vytautas Oškinis, 2019) - these are three documentary stories created by Lithuanian film students.
The competition program will be complemented by other related VDFFs. events. Not only students, teachers or filmmakers, but also all film lovers are invited to the masterclass, which will be led by the famous Czech documentarian and FAMU lecturer Miroslav Janek. They will be moderated by the Lithuanian director and LMTA lecturer Audrius Stonys. VDFF visitors are invited to meet the authors of the films participating in the competition program in a round table discussion. The conversation about film creation and studies will be moderated by film critic Narius Kairys.
In addition to the student films, four other programs will be shown at the VDFF this year. Together with the main program of the festival, which reflects the latest and most interesting searches of documentaries in the world today, a selection of films about the "Baltic Road" by all three Baltic countries will be shown, "Baltic Roads", the special program "Jonas Mekos Portraits" and a retrospective of the work of the legendary Latvian director Herz Franks . The special screening "George: The Story of Jurgis Mačiūnas and Fluxus" is also on the festival calendar.
VDFF will open its doors to cinemas from September 19 to 29. in Vilnius, September 23-25. Beautiful, October 1-3 – Klaipėda.
