The 6th Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns this November with the best new films from the Baltic region! On November 11, see the North American Premiere of Remember to Blink, Austėja Urbaitė’s captivating drama exploring cultural conflicts amid the intricacies of human behavior (Lithuania, 2023). **Director Austėja Urbaitė will present a film talk after the screening.*
Having adopted two Lithuanian children, French couple Leon (Arthur Igual) and Jacqueline (Anne Azoulay), who live in a beautiful house in the French mountains, enlist young Lithuanian student Gabriele (Dovile Kundrotaite) to serve as an interpreter and nanny. When the children arrive, however, their idyllic façade of their new family arrangement gives way to underlying tensions and cultural clashes — the couple might not be familiar with their adopted children’s origins, leading to conflicts and misunderstandings, and unearthing the complexities of parenthood and culture.
Director Austėja Urbaitė’s debut is a thought-provoking exploration of the subtle dynamics of what it means to become a family. The film skillfully unveils the characters’ multifaceted and irrational traits, weaving a tapestry of relationships that question the boundaries of culture and identity, and exposes a form of “Neo-colonialism” reflecting broader cultural conflicts. Urbaitė deftly employs unpredictability of her characters with nuanced performances to maintain viewer engagement, while cinematographer Julius Sičiūnas juxtaposes the serene natural surroundings with the mounting tension within the confined household. (109 min. In Lithuanian/French with English subtitles)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Austėja Urbaitė was born in 1991. She grew up surrounded by nature, in a small village near Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2010, she began studying film directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Her student short film entitled The Etude (Etiudas, 2013) earned considerable attention, and was a prelude to her highly acclaimed debut short, The Bridges (Tiltai, 2015). Both of these movies received numerous nominations and awards on the film festival circuit. Remember to Blink (Per Arti, 2022) is Austėja’s first feature film. Of Remember to Blink, she says, “This movie was born out of a contemplation about how easily we judge each other without stepping out of our own narrow perceptions of what is real and what is right — a kind of emotional and mental blindness. I am very happy to bring this movie overseas, to a place where I have never been, to share my thoughts and discoveries with people which can help me open my eyes to something new.”
