In the age of social networks and global similarity, the question of identity is becoming more and more dramatic. The answer to it depends not only on the personal search for one's own "I", but also on our historical, social, cultural roots and the geographical latitudes in which those roots have been tangled for centuries. The International Vilnius Documentary Film Festival (VDFF) invites us to grasp the common code of us, Lithuanians, and the people of the countries close to us. The special program "Framed Destinies: People from Central and Eastern Europe", which brings together films from five countries, will be available for free viewing both in the cinema hall and online.
"The object of this program is man with all his earthly affairs. Man as an individual and man as a consumer of culture and its creator; a specific person with hands and mind, emotions and desires, lifestyle and thinking style", says Anna Mikonis-Railienė, the creator of this program.
According to A. Mikonis-Railienė, the films of the program, which openly and sincerely tell about the people of Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Estonia, are like a gallery of history and images, allowing you to experience the reality of people and societies, the epicenter of which is the individual and his fate. The cameras of the creators of these film stories are close to the person and, looking at him patiently, attentively and understandingly, they become not only tools of artistic representation, but also instruments of anthropological research.
The anthropological value of the portrait of the Lithuanian village elder Anupras is revealed in the epoch-making film poem of the pioneer of Lithuanian poetic documentary Robert Verba "The Old Man and the Earth" (1965). Anupr's reflections on the land, field work, life and death are surprising in their openness and depth. Continuation of Savitas R. Verba's documentary by Dušan Hanák "Images of the Old World" (1972). Considered by many critics to be the best Slovak documentary film of all time, the poetic tape tells the story of people living in a remote village of the Tatra Mountains, on the edge of civilization, who, despite their dramatic fates, managed not to lose their inner freedom and bright worldliness.
The documentary by the Estonian film master Mark Soosar is also full of noble humanism "The Women of Kihnu Island" (1973). This ethnographic work, strongly influenced by the work of Robert Flaherty, subtly reveals the everyday life and work of the island ruled by women. The mood of the delicate, melancholic landscape also accompanies Janina Lapinskaitė "Widows' Coast" (2006), in which the director penetrates into the essence of being the women of the Curonian Spit in various tragic life circumstances.
Hungarian director Agnes Sós will transport VDFF viewers to a picturesque Transylvanian village. The author in her tape "Flows of Love" (2013) paints the portraits of the villagers - mostly single and widowed - with great sensitivity, as if reminding us that the flow of love can break out in each of us, regardless of the texture of a person's life or his age. The confrontation of different ages and life experiences also became the subject of Polish director Marcelo Łoziński's film "Anything Can Happen" (1995) axis. The director's six-year-old son's spontaneous and sincere conversations with adults relaxing in a park in Warsaw are equivalent to a deep testimony of humanity and today are already considered classics of Polish documentary cinema.
The program "Framed Destinies: People from Central and Eastern Europe" will be screened for free during the VDFF. Although only one screening is reserved for the films of this program in cinema halls, they will also be available for free viewing on the Sinemateka.lt platform during the entire festival.
In addition to the program "Framed Fates: People from Central and Eastern Europe", this year the festival will also present a special program "Anthropology of the Otherworld", which invites you to experience, among other things, virtual reality, a retrospective of the films of mokumentika pioneer Peter Watkins, a children's program "To the Moon and back" and the main program, which reflects the latest and most interesting searches of documentaries in the world today.
VDFF will open its doors to cinemas from September 24 to October 4. in Vilnius, October 2-4. Beautiful, October 9-11 – Klaipėda. This year, documentary film lovers are invited to watch the films of the festival online as well - in the "Skalvijas" virtual hall and Vdff.lt, and the aforementioned documentary program covering Central and Eastern Europe - Sinemateka.lt.