The Lithuanian Film Center presents three newly restored films to the public. After 60 years, the newly revived first Lithuanian children's film "Zydrasis horizontas" (1957) by director Vytautas Mikalauskas, Vytautas Žalakevicius' acclaimed debut feature film "Adomas nori betu žmogumi" (1959) and the slightly younger legendary Gyčio Lukš's psychological drama "Summer ends in autumn" (1981), which took nearly a decade of persistent efforts by the director to see the light of day.
From Monday, December 3-5 at 19 p.m. In Vilnius cinema "Forum Cinemas Vingis" as well as "Forum Cinemas" Beautiful ir Klaipėda the upcoming premiere screenings of these films invite you to see the works of the best quality masters of Lithuanian cinema classics and meet their creators for free. A total of nine cinema screenings open to all will be held. Admission to the events with free tickets, which can be collected at the cinema box office 1 hour before. before the sessions start. The number of places is limited.
Director Gytis Lukšas will present the film "Summer Ends in Autumn" to the audience gathered at the screening in Vilnius and tell more about the challenges of creating the film. Cinematographer Algimantas Mockus, who was awarded this year's "Golden Crane" national film awards for his lifetime contribution to the national cinema, will participate in the presentation of the film "Zydrasis horizontas" in Vilnius and Kaunas, as well as composer, conductor and pedagogue Laurynas Vakaris Lopas, who created the role of the boy Saul in the film. Cameraman A. Mockus will come to Vilnius for another meeting with the audience of the film "Adams wants to be a man". Film critics Rasa Paukštytė and Gediminas Jankauskas will moderate the presentations of all films in Vilnius and Kaunas.
The first Lithuanian film "Zydrasis horizontas", not only intended for children's audiences, but also independently produced by Lithuanian filmmakers, which was a huge success throughout Lithuania, cheerfully tells the story of boys who dream of entering a seaman's school in Klaipėda and long-distance sailing, childhood romance, adventures and trials, when they encounter with reality. Vytautas Mikalauskas' adventure film for children gathered such later recognized cinematographers as Henrika Šablevičius, Algimantas Mockų, Arūnas Žebriūnas on the set. In the words of one of the actors Eustachijaus Aukštikalnis, who played the wicked uncle Tiburcių in the film, "the whole future blossom of Lithuanian cinema received its baptism in the "Blue Horizon".
Another film restored and presented to the public on behalf of the Lithuanian Film Center, which will also celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, is director Vytautas Žalakevicius's drama "Adams wants to be a man" (1959). The revived film was presented this year at the Lübeck film festival "Northern Film Days", where the international premiere of the restored film took place.
Based on the novel by Vytautas Sirijas Gira, "Adams wants to be a man" tells the story of a young idealist, Adams, caught in the vortex of painful social conflicts and cynical deception. The story unfolding in the Interwar Temporary Capital reveals the hopes and dreams of Adam and his beloved girlfriend Lucė to escape from their poor everyday life to a more beautiful world beyond the sea lagoons. According to film critic Gedimins Jankauskas, the film is one of the highest achievements of Lithuanian cinema, raising the bar of our national cinema very high. "Adams wants to be a man" perfectly reveals the maturity of the director V. Žalakevičius, highlights the psychological subtext of the plot and characters, impresses with emotionality and the visuality of the cinematographic language, G. Jankauskas notes. "The film has not lost its relevance even today, and the work of the director, cameraman and actors' team still excites us today and is an example of the highest craftsmanship."
Another premiere of a restored Lithuanian film waiting for the viewers of cinemas in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda - director Gytis Lukš's drama "Summer ends in autumn" (1981) about a father and son who fell in love with a young widow, through the camera the story of three lonely people, their mutual relationships, unspoken feelings and after revealing their lives marked by unfulfilled aspirations, the painful fate of the whole of Lithuania and its countryside.
"I did something that would seem impossible now", - this is what director Gytis Lukšas has said about his film more than once. G. Lukšas fought patiently for almost 10 years for the realization of the film based on the script of the writer Romualds Granauskas. It is also difficult to understand how a film could appear at that time, in which the actors Algimantas Masiulis and Valentinas Masalskis, who played the roles of father and son, sit on the bank of a ditch and sing the song of the people being transported to exile "If not golden summers, not blue vosilkos...", and in the final scene the tiny rural homestead, a symbol of the birthplace, is surrounded by powerful Russian bulldozers - they could have been taken to Siberia for these episodes, but this did not prevent the film from traveling halfway around the world and in 1983 winning the prize at the XNUMXth Union Film Festival for the best actor (Vaiva Mainelytė, V. Masalskis, A. Masiulis) ensemble.
All films were digitized by the Central State Archive of Lithuania on behalf of the Lithuanian Film Center, video and audio restoration work was carried out by "TPS", "Dubbfilm Studio" (Poland), Locomotive Productions (Latvija).
By order of the Lithuanian Film Center, 13 films have already been digitized and restored: "Zydrasis horizontas" (dir. V. Mikalauskas, 1957), "Adams wants to be human" (dir. V. Žalakevičius, 1959), "No one wanted to die" (dir. V Žalakevičius, 1966), "Feelings" (dir. A. Grikevičius and A. Dausa, 1968), "The Beauty" (dir. A. Žebriūnas, 1969), "Maža izžagnitis" (dir. A. Araminas, 1971), "Herkus Mantas" (dir. M. Giedrys, 1972), "Sadūto tūto" (dir. A. Grikevičius, 1974), "The Devil's Bride" (dir. A. Žebriūnas, 1974), "Faktas" (dir. A. Grikevičius, 1980), "Summer ends in autumn" (dir. G. Lukšas, 1981), "Flight over the Atlantic" (dir. R. Vabalas, 1983), "Children from the "Amerika" hotel" (dir. R. Banionis, 1990). By the end of the year, the restoration of two more classics of Lithuanian cinema will be completed - Arūnas Žebriūnas' films "The Last Holiday Day" (1964) and "Nut Bread" (1977).
"THE LITHUANIAN CINEMA CLASSIC IS BACK!" PROGRAM, ALL SESSIONS FREE!
"Forum Cinemas Vingis" (Savanorių pr. 7), hall 5
December 3, Monday
19:00 "Summer ends in autumn", dir. Gytis Lukšas, 1981, 90 min., N-13
December 4, Tuesday
19:00 "Blue Horizon", dir. Vytautas Mikalauskas, 1957, 70 min., V
Wednesday, December 5
19:00 "Adam wants to be human", dir. Vytautas Žalakevičius, 1959, 87 min., N-13
