Catching Up with the Present: Lithuanian Short Films

I BUY 8′, Martynas Norvaišas, Lithuania, 2023

A diverse crowd of shop goers at the mall parking lot shares what has ended up in their trunks after the weekly shopping. Item after item, this collective shopping list becomes a meditative flow of things and evokes a peculiar nostalgic feeling. Both an urge to set roots deep in life and curiosity to experience it beyond the mundane start to unveil behind the necessities satisfying day-to-day life. Oddly, this short doc should reflect buying in terms of existentialism, not consumerism.

COMMUNITY GARDENS 15′, Vytautas Katkus, Lithuania, 2019

Patriarchal masculinity seems to catch its last breath in the sun. A story about a cold relationship between a father and his son. Their bond, plagued by indifference, disintegrates completely.

IEVA 14′, Vytautas Plukas, Domas Petronis, Lithuania, 2020

Inside a lab, a robot is created. Like a newborn, it analyses its surroundings with the primitive senses and limited knowledge it has. While exploring such fundamental concepts as distance, weight, light and size, the robot tries to perform basic physical tasks that would resemble natural human motion. It fails miserably but still keeps learning. Emotions start to appear on its face, when it sees human children. These emotions are probably just involuntary muscle contractions. A test is set up to see how a dog and a humanoid robot would respond to each other. Perhaps a less intelligent life form would be not as critical about what being alive means?

IT’S ALRIGHT 17′, Jorūnė Greičiūtė, Lithuania 2020

Taking a break from their unsuccessful lives, two middle-aged people meet up for a picnic in an attempt to rediscover romantic connection. Naïve, ill at ease and full of insecurities, they grapple with their most awkward selves whilst struggling with their boundaries, in the everlasting search for love.

WAY BETTER 13′, Skirmanta Jakaitė, Lithuania 2022

A man is waiting for medical test results. He expects the worst but at the same time hopes for the best. Distressed and afraid, he spends a week in a limbo of his own creation, neither here nor there, dreading the things that haven’t happened yet.

LEFT-HANDED PEN 18′, Adas Burkšaitis, Lithuania 2024

Sunny summer day at a suburban school. A schoolteacher finds out that her son’s poorly written exam may jeopardise his dream of attending a prestigious university abroad. The film explores sacrifices a mother is willing to make to secure her child’s success, raising questions about ethics and the pressures of education.