The Fourth Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns in 2021 as a hybrid festival with both in-person and virtual screenings on November 3-14! From November 3 through 7, in-person screenings and events will take place at Scandinavia House in New York, presented in accordance with new COVID-19 safety guidance and protocols. Following the success of last year’s festival, the online version will once again be available to viewers all across the U.S. via the Elevent streaming platform November 3-14.
On November 5, see Gentle Warriors (Švelnūs kariai, dir. Marija Stonytė, Lithuania/Estonia, 2020, Documentary). Three young women, Agne, Karina and Gintare, decide to volunteer for military service after conscription for men is reintroduced to Lithuania as a response to possible threats from Russia. Living and training among 600 men on an isolated military base over the course of nine months, each woman undertakes their training with their own romanticized ideas about what they want to get out of the experience; as their understanding of the realities of their situation changes over the course of the film, their perspectives of life shift and change. Through director Marija Stonytė’s eyes, Gentle Warriors captures their physical and emotional transformation into independent women, responsible for their own faith and happiness.
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above; film screenings will take place in Victor Borge Hall. All attendees are required to present proof of vaccination upon arrival in compliance with New York State government; read more here. Attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks during the program and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.
Virtual screenings of this film will take place from November 6-14. To read more and purchase virtual passes, please click here.
About the Director
Marija Stonytė (b. 1991, Vilnius) studied BA and MA in Film Directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has made short narrative and documentary films that have won national and international awards.
In 2018, Stonytė was selected by Vilnius Town Hall to be a Lithuanian representative in the lens based digital media artist’s residency in Aviles Spain. In 2016, she was selected as a participant in the IDFAcademy and in the IDFAcademy Summer School in 2019. Stonytė won the Young Artist Award in 2017 from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.
About NYBFF
Established in 2018, the New York Baltic Film Festival is presented and organized by Scandinavia House in collaboration with the Consulate General of Estonia, Consulate General of Lithuania, and Permanent Mission of Latvia to the United Nations in New York.
Financial support for the festival comes from the Estonian Film Institute, National Film Center of Latvia, and Lithuanian Film Center, with additional sponsorship by the Lithuanian Culture Institute, American Latvian Association, LV-100, Printful, PBLA Culture Fund and the Lithuanian Foundation and the Embassy of Latvia in Washington DC.
Organizers & Sponsors
