In Umeå, European Capital of Culture for 2014, Lithuanian Film Weekend organized
On 31 October a Lithuanian Film Weekend was opened in Umeå. The event presented a posibility to the Swedish audience to become closer acquainted with the old and new Lithuanian films and the stories on the major historical turning points.
The opening ceremony was attended by Gytis Lukšas, film director, Chairman of the Union of Lithuanian Cinematographers, Jonas Öhman, a film director, journalist and translator, Eitvydas Bajarūnas, Ambassador of Lithuania to Sweden, Saulė Mažeikaitė , Cultural Attaché of Lithuania to Sweden, Helena Eliasson Järnö, Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Umeå.
Over the three weekend days 31 October – 2 November the programme, consisting of 14 Lithuanian films of different genres, was presented to the audience in a popular Folkets Bio Umeå cinema. Two full-length feature films were included in to the programme – Gytis Lukšas’ Vortex and Audrius Juzėnas’ Ghetto, three Lithuanian poetic documentaries from the Soviet period – Robertas Verba’s The Dreams of the Centenarians, Almantas Grikevičius’ Time Passes Through the City and Henrikas Šablevičius’ A Trip Across Misty Meadows, two short film programmes, which include award-winning documentaries of Audrius Stonys, Arūnas Matelis and Giedrė Beinoriūtė, films by Lina Lūžytė and Ieva Veiverytė and animation of Jūratė Leikaitė, Skirmanta Jakaitė, and Solveiga Masteikaitė. The Lithuanian Film Weekend programme was concluded by two full-length documentaries, created over the last years by Jonas Öhman, a film director, journalist, translator and a cultural figure.
The Lithuanian Film Weekend was included into the program of events of Umeå, a European Capital of Culture for 2014 and organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Filmmakers Union in cooperation with Folkets Bio Umeå cinema and coordinated by the International Cultural Programme Centre.
