Competition Programme: Lithuanian Animation

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!
Films in the original language with English and Lithuanian subtitles.

N-13
Jury:
Martin Vandas

Martin Vandas

Czechia

Producer with experience in 8 animated feature films, dozens of short animated films for children and adults, also signed for documentaries, TV shows. Maurfilm's films have won literally hundreds of festival awards including an Oscar nomination.In addition to animation, he loves his three daughters, books, collecting movie posters, and long distance running. Which always seems like a good metaphor for all animated films...

Rafael Motamayor

Rafael Motamayor

Norway

Rafael Motamayor is a freelance critic and reporter based in Norway specializing in animated film and TV. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, IndieWire, Variety, Vulture, IGN, and others.

Viktorija Ežiukas

Viktorija Ežiukas

Lithuania

Viktorija Ežiukas is an illustrator, comic artist and educator based in Klaipėda. She has illustrated more than 20 books, published several comic books, and brings over 10 years of experience in leading creative workshops for children and adults. Her work combines illustration, storytelling, and arts education, inspiring participants of all ages to explore their creativity.

Participants:
Antanas Skučas

Antanas Skučas

Lithuania

Antanas Skučas is a film director and data artist teaching at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. His films have won "Silver Crane" awards, are broadcast on the ARTE television network, and tour international festivals. He is the founder of the film production company "Tylus kinas". He works with new media, XR, VR, AR, and artificial intelligence technologies.

Gustė Bidvaitė

Gustė Bidvaitė

Lithuania

Gustė Bidvaitė was introduced to art at the M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts. She is currently studying for a bachelor's degree in animation at Vilnius Academy of Arts. Through her works, without speaking with words, the animator seeks to convey emotionally deep themes and stories.

Sonata Vilke

Sonata Vilke

Lithuania

Sonata Vilkevičiūtė is a stop-motion animator who also works with various textile techniques. From a young age, she was interested in animation and doll-making. She attended Kaišiadorys Art School and later graduated from Kaunas Art Gymnasium with a specialization in textiles. For her final arts exam, she decided to explore animation and created her first stop-motion animated short film, In the Rhythm of a Clock. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Animation at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA), works as an educator with the Animatest team, and occasionally collaborates with the animation studio Kadrų Skyrius.

Šarūnas Vyštartas

Šarūnas Vyštartas

Lithuania

Animation plays a big part in Šarūnas life. He animates daily and watches festival programmes to learn new techniques or the subtleties of writing a compelling story. For 2 years, he led a team for an international doku-animated feature “Aurora's Sunrise”, which premiered at the Annecy festival. In 2022 - 2023, he was the lead animator on a feature animated film, “Nelly Jelly". Šarūnas wants to take advantage of this and create a strong, visually beautiful film with a story that will touch many.

Akvilė Bliujūtė-Janušė

Akvilė Bliujūtė-Janušė

Lithuania

Since 2017, Akvilė has been working at Meinart Animation Studio as a producer, overseeing internationally recognized animated shorts, including The Perfect Fit—the first Lithuanian short acquired by Disney+. In 2023, she was executive producer on the animated feature Nelly Jelly: My Film. She is currently producing several short films, producing and animated series for adults "Hell Corporation" and developing her second feature, The House That Ran Away.

Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė

Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė

Lithuania

Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė is a young and talented 2D and stop-motion animator who graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2020 and is now working on several projects, based both in Lithuania and abroad. Backstreet Birds is her first written and directed short.

Jokūbas Rimkus

Jokūbas Rimkus

Germany

Jokūbas Rimkus was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. After finishing Justinas Vienožinskis art school at the age of 16 he began experimenting with Blender, Krita, and Adobe Animate. He studied animation in the Filmunivesität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in Germany, where he got to participate in multiple projects, learning to work in diverse and international teams as well as taking a role of a director, leading a team of talented artists and bringing the short-film “Stone Growth” to life.

Screenings

Thursday, 09/10, 15:00 · ArlekinasOriginal language with English and Lithuanian subtitles
Friday, 09/11, 12:30 · ArlekinasOriginal language with English and Lithuanian subtitles
Sunday, 09/13, 15:00 · ArlekinasOriginal language with English and Lithuanian subtitles
TEN
TEN

2025 · Lithuania · 15 min

When an emigrant arrives in a foreign country, he must adapt to the new environment to survive. However, upon reaching the limits of his capabilities, he returns to his true self and accepts his fate.

Director:
Šarūnas Vyštartas
Screenwriter:
Šarūnas Vyštartas
Producer:
Akvilė Bliujūtė-Janušė, Meinardas Valkevičius
Company:
UAB Meinart
Stone Growth
Stone Growth

2026 · Germany · 7 min

In a world where stones never stop growing, a boy lives with his grandmother in a garden house. When he realizes the stones will destroy their home, he tries to stop them, but every attempt ends in failure. His grandmother knows that some things cannot be fought and begins clearing out the house. In the end, despite the destruction, they find a way to build something new together.

Director:
Jokūbas Rimkus
Company:
Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Blessed
Blessed

2025 · Canada · 7 min

A tough, no-nonsense Buffalo has always seen himself as strong and fearless. But when his dream of becoming a father comes true, he suddenly finds himself awkward, overwhelmed, and constantly judged. Can he become the father he has always imagined, or will his fears hold him back?

Director:
Birutė Sodeikaitė
Producer:
Birutė Sodeikaitė
Playing Catch
Playing Catch

2025 · Lithuania · 2 min

A lyrical meditation on a lifelong rivalry between brother and sister, played out on the ice.

Director:
V. M. Bikowa
Broadcast from an Unknown Source
Broadcast from an Unknown Source

2026 · Lithuania · 4 min

In this short film, a grandson uses his grandfather's poetry to rebuild a lost bond. Broadcast from an Unknown Source transforms personal memory into a digital landscape of light and data. A meditation on loss, the film explores how technology can reconnect us with the past.

Director:
Antanas Skučas
Company:
MB "Tylus kinas"
Kiddo
Kiddo

2026 · Lithuania · 8 min

Fairy tales often tell of wicked old witches who steal children and mean them harm. Their role is not merely to make the story more frightening, but to warn children about the dangers of the real world. Drawing on personal experience, this animated short reveals how child grooming begins almost unnoticed before evolving into a cycle of emotional dependency where abuse and affection become impossible to separate. How do you escape it?

Director:
Gustė Bidvaitė
Screenwriter:
Gustė Bidvaitė
Producer:
Gustė Bidvaitė
Company:
Vilniaus Dailės Akademija
No Time
No Time

2026 · Lithuania · 3 min

An animated short that captures the existential anxiety and relentless pace of modern life through a constant stream of chaotic events.

Director:
Antanas Skučas
Company:
MB "Tylus kinas"
INVASIVE!
INVASIVE!

2025 · Lithuania · 2 min

The mind is like a field: once an invasive thought takes root, it is difficult to uproot. It spreads, crowding out every other thought. In a world full of worries, it has never been easier for such thoughts to overwhelm us.

Director:
Sonata Vilke
Backstreet Birds
Backstreet Birds

2025 · Lithuania · 7 min

It’s an ordinary evening in the neighbourhood. The residents are at home, quietly watching TV. Like everyone else, Penguin enjoys spending time in front of the screen, alone and undisturbed. But when a new neighbour, Pigeon, moves in, everything changes. Pigeon loves a good party, and with limited resources to share, the birds soon find themselves locked in a conflict with only one possible outcome: catastrophe.

Director:
Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė
Screenwriter:
Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė
Producer:
Justė Beniušytė, Ignas Meilūnas
Company:
Kadrų Skyrius