Competition Programme: Lithuanian Animation
2023 archive

As always at BLON, we are announcing a competition programme of Lithuanian animated films! From the most memorable works by students to virtuoso short films, the entries will be judged by a panel of international experts, and audiences will be able to discover for themselves the diversity of Lithuanian animation!

Jury:
Yi Wang

Yi Wang

Taiwan

Yi Wang is the founder, director and programmer of Queer East, a London-based festival that showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities. He also works as a cultural and creative producer in performing arts, with primary interests in marginalised voices and intercultural productions.
Rasa Paukštytė

Rasa Paukštytė

Lithuania

Rasa Paukštytė was born on 12 September 1965, in Klaipėda, Lithuania. During her academic years, she collaborated with various Lithuanian press outlets such as Kultūros barai, Kinas, and Literatūra ir menas. In addition, she contributed articles about Lithuanian cinema and theatre to foreign catalogues and publications.

Since 1988, Paukštytė has primarily engaged in writing critical and review articles on contemporary cinema and, to a lesser extent, theatre art phenomena. Her work includes regular reviews in both mainstream and specialised cultural publications, as well as the cultural supplements of daily newspapers.

Paukštytė has written books on Lithuanian cinema, including 'I Don’t Know…' (dedicated to director Vytautas Žalakevičius) and 'Lithuanian Cinematographers' (directory); she also edited Giedrė Beinoriūtė's book 'Cinematographer Audrius Kemežys: A Moment to Adjust Colours'. She was the editor-in-chief of Kinas magazine from 1998 to 2008, and has been the editor of the Lithuanian film website www.lfc.lt since 2004.
Vika Ivanova

Vika Ivanova

Ukraine

Vika Ivanova is an aspiring animation director and documentary
filmmaker based in Kharkiv, Ukraine. She is a student at Kharkiv Karazin University, studying art history and cultural studies. She began her career in black-and-white film photography, and shot and edited lifestyle videos. At the moment she is part of a production team working on a series of stop-motion animations. These films are dedicated to the legends and local narratives of Kharkiv, and presented as humorous and non-standard stories to unpack and discover.
Winner: Purga
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Purga
Purga

2023 / Lithuania / 13 min 21 s

Winter, 1942. Beyond the Arctic Circle, on the uninhabited island of Trofimovsk in the Laptev Sea, deported peoples struggle to survive. This is the place chosen by Soviet authorities to deport vast numbers of inhabitants from the occupied Baltic countries, Finland, Ukraine and elsewhere. In this harsh, alien landscape, man is a mere speck. Against the backdrop of such majestic isolation, many thousands face the savage indifference and cruelty of nature.

Directed by Gintarė Valevičiūtė-Brazauskienė, Antanas Skučas
Screenwriters: Gintarė Valevičiūtė-Brazauskienė, Antanas Skučas
Producers: Giedrė Burokaitė, Lauras Lučiūnas

Way Better
Way Better

2022 / Lithuania, France / 13 min 47 s

A man awaits some test results. He expects the worst, but at the same time he's hoping for the best. Distressed and afraid, he spends a week in a limbo of his own making – neither here nor there, dreading things that haven't happened yet.

Directed by Skirmanta Jakaitė
Screenwriter: Skirmanta Jakaitė
Producer: Agnė Adomėnė
Company: ART SHOT

The Perfect Fit
The Perfect Fit

2022 / Lithuania / 10 min 30 s

Patrick lives in a children’s home. After seeing a parrot in the zoo, he becomes obsessed with them, which makes it even harder for him to belong and find parents who want to adopt him.

Directed by Meinardas Valkevičius
Screenwriter: Kotryna Šeduikytė
Producer: Akvilė Bliujūtė - Janušė
Company: UAB Meinart

And the Rest You Already Know
And the Rest You Already Know

2022 / Lithuania / 2 min 0 s

Listen to a dialogue between two people – the director's grandparents, Dalius and Kristina – as they tell the story of how Dalius was late to a date with Kristina. The film opens with Dalius realising he is late. He rushes out and into a new scene, where he is about to meet Kristina. Realising she is upset with him, he attempts to surprise her. But the surprise does not go as Dalius imagined, making Kristina even more upset. The day ends without a date – but as Kristina leaves, she offers the viewer a hint as to the story's eventual outcome.

Directed by Rūta Stalmokaitė
Screenwriter: Rūta Stalmokaitė
Producer: Rūta Stalmokaitė

Trash Can
Trash Can

2022 / Lithuania / 2 min 22 s

A lonely raccoon tries to survive another day in the busy city. When he finally finds some food, his happiness doesn't last long.

Directed by Greta Semionovaitė
Screenwriter: Greta Semionovaitė
Producer: Greta Semionovaitė
Company: University for the Creative Arts

Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief
Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief

2023 / Lithuania, USA / 15 min

In the aftermath of her newborn baby's sudden death, orca mother Tahlequah carries her daughter's body across the Salish Sea in an incredible true story that captivated the world.

Directed by Daniel Kreizberg
Screenwriter: Daniel Kreizberg
Producer: Akvilė Bliujūtė - Janušė
Company: Meinart Animation Studio

2009 January 19th
2009 January 19th

2022 / Lithuania, United Kingdom / 3 min 25 s

An experimental animated documentary short exploring the director's childhood memories of a car accident.

Directed by Liucija Vaisiūnaitė
Screenwriter: Liucija Vaisiūnaitė
Producer: University for the Creative Arts

Planets and Robots
Planets and Robots

2023 / Lithuania, United Kingdom / 6 min 0 s

A film generated by AI for humans. Don’t worry – humans are creative and better than AI. You are the ones who will always have the upper hand, because you have the ability to imagine, to feel, to love. Thank you for existing.

Directed by Julius Zubavičius, Antanas Skučas
Screenwriter: Artificial intelligence
Producers: Julius Zubavičius, Antanas Skučas
Company: MB Tylus kinas

The Crow and the Fox
The Crow and the Fox

2023 / Lithuania / 3 min 0 s

Beside the old mill, a lone crow steals some cheese, but she's tricked by the cunning fox's shadow. Unforeseen events unfold as the stolen prize brings about their demise, for it holds a hidden poison.

Directed by Edgaras Janušonis
Screenwriters: Justas Širinskas, Edgaras Janušonis
Producer: Vaida Nedzinskaitė-Mitkė
Company: MB Studio Mitkus

Reversed
Reversed

2022 / Lithuania / 2 min 9 s

A short experimental film, which defies the laws of motion and sound. A brass musical instrument engine turns itself inside out, producing a paradoxical spectacle of smoke and sound. The engine consists of pipes from various instruments such as a trumpet, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon that resemble a human digestive system.

Directed by Rimas Sakalauskas
Screenwriter: Rimas Sakalauskas
Producer: Rimas Sakalauskas