The New York Baltic Festival closes with this final event of screenings looking at the Baltics past and present. The event includes the feature film Together Forever, in which a woman’s distance from her daughter and her (possibly suicidal) stuntman husband bubbles over into the unexpected (Lithuania, 2016). Prior to the film, we’ll be screening the short films The Esperance of Will, an animated short about an older woman who, having buried quite enough of her friends, decides to eschew spending money at the local coffin shop; and Ice, about the unexpectedly hazardous journey of an army officer and his 10-year-old son across a frozen sea.
The Esperance of Will /Ceriba dzivot (U.S. Premiere Screening)
It isn’t easy to make death charming and almost jovial, but director Rene Turtledove accomplishes it in this animation short about an elderly woman who has buried one too many friends, and decides there are better ways to spend her money and her time than on the local coffin shop. (11 min. In Latvian with English subtitles.)
Ice
Harri is an army officer who is posted far enough from home that he rarely gets to see his 10-year-old son. In an attempt to make up for this, he and the boy go off on a ‘roughing it” trip to an island. But when they miss the ferry, Harri takes an icy road over the frozen sea to their destination. The ominous decision is photographed brilliantly under the direction of Anna Hints. (15 min. In Estonian with English subtitles)
Together For Ever (U.S. Premiere Screening)
Families have seldom disintegrated as creatively as in this feature of Lina Luzyte. Opening with a prolonged one-shot sequence worthy of Hitchcock, the drama focuses on a woman’s growing distance from her 11-year-old daughter, who finds it easier to lie than to tell the truth, and her stuntman husband, whose risks begin to look suspiciously suicidal. As each family member struggles to be loved and accepted, events begin to bubble into the unexpected. (88 min. In Lithuanian with English subtitles)
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Lina Lužytė (Together Forever)
Lina Lužytė (b. 1985) was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2011, she graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre with an MA in Film Directing. After directing several successful short films and documentaries she finally went on to direct Igrushki, her first feature documentary, which shows people’s everyday life in a small village in Belarus. She has numerous writing and directing credits in films and advertising both in Lithuania and abroad. Together For Ever (2016) is her debut feature film that was premiered in Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, it was selected by multiple film festivals around the world – traveled across Europe to Egypt and Japan.
Rene Turtledove (The Esperance of Will)
Rene Turtledove is born in Bauska, Latvia on the 16th of October 1991. From 2009 till 2011 he attended Riga Film school courses in writing, directing and history of film. Beginning in 2014 Rene Turtledove has worked at film studio Drejas as a documentary film director and editor. Since then Rene has worked in advertising as a director and editor for brand commercials. In 2016 he started writing scripts and assisting the director for film studio Platforma Film. In 2017 he debuted as an animation film director for the film The Esperance of Will.
Anna Hints (Ice)
Anna Hints (born 1982) has studied literature, folklore and has a BA both in photography and film directing. She has a background in Estonian contemporary art scene. In her art she has explored questions of identity, the concept of personal and cultural memory, and the backstage of our fears and desires. Anna is active in two musical groups. She is a singer who combines old Estonian runo songs with voice improvisation. Currently she is developing her first feature documentary and her first feature fiction film. Her student film “Free World” won the National Grand Prix at Sleepwalkers Short Film Festival of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. “Ice” is her debut of short fiction.
2018 New York Baltic Film Festival
The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been producing motion pictures since 1910. While not as well-known as those in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, their industries have met challenges in one era or another that ultimately only galvanized their creative ambitions for features, documentaries, and animation shorts. Through the screening of both the latest productions and selected classics, the inaugural 2018 New York Baltic Film Festival offers an unprecedented opportunity to see the best in northern European film making.
The New York Baltic Film Festival is presented by Scandinavia House and organized by the Consulate General of Estonia, Consulate General of Lithuania and Consulate of Latvia in New York. Programming support is from the Estonian Film Institute, National Film Center of Latvia, and Lithuanian Film Center. Funding for the festival is courtesy of governments of the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and by the generous donations of members of the Baltic community in New York. Additional support to the festival is from the Lithuanian Cultural Institute, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, and the American Scandinavian Foundation.
October 21, 2018
October 21, 2018
SUN—October 21—6 PM
$12 ($7 ASF Members)
Series Pass $90 ($55 ASF Members)