CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION
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The Century of Czeslaw Milosz
The century of Czeslaw Milosz documentary is dedicated to the commemoration of Nobel prize for literature receiver Czeslaw Milosz – Polish poet with Lithuanian roots.
The director of the movie Juozas Javaitis altogether with creative team is trying to reveal the layers of life and creation of this historical figure known for his unique mind and memory. The first two parts of the movie will demonstrate early days in poet’s native soil at Šeteniai, gymnasium and university years in Vilnius, later period of journeys and panorama of the era that was penetrated by historical shocks. Finally in the third part of the documentary a complicated return to Lithuania after decades of exodus is pictured.
A number of well known intellectuals that were connected with Czeslaw Milosz in one way or another are interviewed for the movie. Among those are such personalities as Anthony Milosz (son of the poet), Tomas Venclova, Aleksander Fiut, Andrzej Franaszek, Jerzy Illg, Agnieszka Kosińska etc.
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Narcissus
Co-production with CONCEPT EVENTS & MEDIA (Lithuania) and 2/35 (Greece)
PLANNED TO RELEASE in early 2012
Narcissus (from Greek Narkissos) shares the root nark- with narcosis and narcotic. All these words have the same origin in the verb narkaō – to intoxicate through a strong smell.
I was particularly interested to find out why a handsome and overall fortunate man says he never feels happy. He draws people in, but ends up hurting them, yet he is impossible to resist.
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DISSIDENTS – THE ROAR OF A SWAN
PLANNED TO RELEASE IN 2012
Allways against the mainstream, facing the totalitarian regimes individually, the independent artists, poets, jazz musicians of East European countries created something, that made an alternative for totalitarian aesthetics and inevitably striped the regimes of their illusionary ideological splendour, – their stories tell us about the importance of ethical action, which is definitely against any mainstream, jeopardising human dignity and creativity.
In Lithuanian, the word dissident is sometimes translated as “other-minded person”. It probably has its equivalents in Hungarian, Polish, Czech and the languages of other nations that lived under the heel of the totalitarian regimes of the second half of the twentieth century. Little-known and unheralded in the West, these fighters for human rights – which acquired the status of universal values after WWII – ended up living in circumstances that were eerily reminiscent of an Orwell novel. Who were these people? What drove them? Why did their motivations involve much more than the ordinary human desire for happiness? Why did they decide to stand up to powerful and repressive regimes?
We don’t often ponder these questions today. And we are taken aback when they, the hallowed veterans, voice their discontent about the way we use the freedoms we’ve gained – freedoms for which they sacrificed the best years of their lives, often spending decades in the Gulag. We call their voices “the bellowing of the swan”, in contrast to the proverbial swan song. Should we not make time to hear these voices, these complaints? These mumblings of now elderly people that the young have little time for today? Do we not wish to leave our kids with an elementary grasp of what human dignity is all about? That human dignity which today is no longer the bane of state systems but of commercial interests? This is why the intention of this project is to go beyond a mere commemoration of the deeds of these dissidents. Rather, it is an attempt to reveal enduring values through the lens of the not-so-distant past. We wish to place special emphasis on the theme of solidarity – among nations and societal groups. After all, the regimes in the former USSR and Warsaw Pact countries strove to destroy traditional community ties in order to gain control of all social networks. In Lithuania, for example, the Soviet government was quite successful in driving a wedge between dissidents and the intelligentsia, by persecuting the former and by bribing the latter.
It is important to capture on film the protagonists of this Orwellian epoch while they are still alive; they need to be asked about the seminal moments of their lives, and about their take on the challenges of our own day.
There was a time in Lithuania when the words freedom and jazz were almost synonymous. One jazz band – the Ganelin Trio – rode this wave to legendary success. The group’s drummer, Vladimir Tarasov, went on to be more than a jazz musician – today he does exhibitions, installations and what were once called one-man-shows. What makes him interesting is the combination of his Soviet-era experiences, his network of contacts among independent artists around the world, and his non-conformist stance with regard to dominant forces. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it emerged that a true artist is ultimately a dissident by nature – independent directors pit themselves against Hollywood; independent artists against snobbish museum curators, and independent writers against the mass-market strategies of publishers. The price they pay is the forfeiture of their material well being – under despotisms the price is constant surveillance by security services, “re-education” (which can mean physical and/or psychological violence) and in some cases “liquidation” (as in the cases of Lithuanian sculptors T.Valaitis and V.Lukošaitis who died in mysterious circumstances). In the end, why is it important for an artist to stick to his guns? Is it important only for the artist himself? What does it mean for those who come into contact with his work?
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A series of documentary films “The culture of Lithuania’s nations in XXI century.Part I. THE CULTURE OF LITHUANIA’S POLES.”
Our goal is to create a series of documentary films addressed to the general public. The films will depict the history of ethnic minorities living in Lithuania and present different people who foster and try to preserve the culture of Lithuanian Poles, Jews, Belorussians, Russians,Tatars and Karaims. Contemporary Lithuania attempts to preserve theheritage of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially the tradition of ethnic and religious tolerance. That is why the series of documentary films telling about the culture of ethnic minorities living in Lithuania will serve not only as a means for a better understanding of the citizens belonging to other cultures but also as a good way to promote the country.The first part of the series – a documentary “The culture of Lithuanian
Poles” is scheduled to be released in 2011.
The film will consist of two parts. In the first part of the film the director of the Lithuanian Institute of History dr. Rimantas Miknys will present the history of Lithuanian Poles. His story will be illustrated by archival shots and iconographic material. The second part will present
the most outstanding figures of the contemporary Polish cultural life, their works and achievements. They will reflect on the position and role of Lithuanian Poles in the context of contemporary culture of Lithuania, connections between Polish and Lithuanian cultures, their artists. In the
past Vilnius due to its multicultural aura was a great source of inspiration for many artists. Thus, Vilnius, the Vilnius Region and the whole country in general produced a lot of prominent Polish writers such as Adam Mickiewicz, Ludwik Kondratowicz (Syrokomla), Czeslaw Milosz,
Tadeusz Konwicki and many others who contributed a lot to Polish culture and literature.
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Road from Nowhere: The Restoration of Lithuanian Statehood 1987-1993
Co-production with CONCEPT EVENTS&MEDIA
15 series documentary -in production.
PLANNED TO RELEASE IN 2013
The documentary series traces the history of a people’s struggle for freedom and independence in the last two decades of the 20th Century.
The bookends to the drama are a demonstration in 1987 against the notorious Hitler-Stalin Pact which divided Europe and sealed the post-War fate of the Baltic States and the departure in 1993 of the last Soviet soldier from Lithuanian soil ending 50 years of occupation.
The series documents the birth of the Lithuanian national movement “Sajūdis”; the peaceful push for freedom known as the “Singing Revolution”, including a human chain that stretched 500 kilometers across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; the restoration of the Republic of Lithuania; the bloody attempt by Mikhail Gorbachev to restore Soviet power; finally Lithuania’s diplomatic recognition by the world community and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The documentary offers never-aired archival footage of the struggle in Lithuania, as well as interviews with dozens of leaders of the revolution, their Communist contemporaries, historians and other observers who witnessed events that changed the political map of Europe.