This year’s festival slogan “Spring Full of Emotions!” was reflected in the opening ceremony, hosted by the best Lithuanian actress at last year’s Kino Pavasaris Aistė Diržiūtė, and TV presenter Marijus Ziedas. Songs conveying various emotions – hope, passion and sorrow – were performed by Alina Orlova, Golden Parazyth and other Lithuanian artists.
Singer Vidas Bareikis started the ceremony with this year’s festival song “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys. The song can be heard in one of this year’s films, the Brian Wilson biopic “Love & Mercy”.
“Our lives are filled with various emotions. They enrich the soul, brighten our everyday lives. Cinema is the cultural field that uniquely combines different feelings. I have to thank my dream team, who have been selecting films from around the world the entire year to bring them to Lithuania for two weeks,” said festival director Vida Ramaškienė.
President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė sent the guests a video greeting. “Kino Pavasaris has a special way of finding at least one right film for each of us – a film that finds its way to our hearts and minds. My wish for you is not to miss your film, director, actor, and send them a symbolic personal Oscar, Golden Bear or Silver Crane. Have a blooming spring, everyone!” said the President.
Kino Pavasaris expressed support for the Busan International Film Festival, gathering for a group photo with banners that proclaimed “I Support BIFF”. Due to censorship that BIFF organisers experience, it is unclear whether this significant film festival will return.
Receiving special thanks were the festival volunteers, who this year were joined by senior volunteers for the first time.
Guests also received live greetings from Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and Vilnius City Mayor Remigijus Šimašius. “I am delighted to welcome one of the biggest and most anticipated events in Vilnius. It has long ago surpassed the limits of a film festival, becoming a celebration for the whole city – each year becoming more interesting, diverse and attracting more guests from all around the world,” said the Mayor.
“I'm glad that the festival gets bigger each year and brings good cinema to many Lithuanian cities. Kino Pavasaris gives festival goers exceptional quality work every year, which is a quality that we share in our everyday activities. I wish you a great celebration,” addedSaulius Jokūbaitis, Lithuanian branch CEO of the festival’s main partner ERGO.
While guests were arriving at the opening ceremony, the movie theatres in Vilnius were screening this year’s opening film “The Show of Shows” created by Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson, who also came to the festival. His documentary is comprised of stunning archival footage that depicts circus performances from the past century, accompanied by a score specially composed for the film by members of Icelandic band Sigur Rós.
The opening ceremony was attended by the influential music producer Mark Reeder, main protagonist of “B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin (1979–1989)”. The film focuses on the vibrant post-punk music scene in West-Berlin. Reeder, who discovered the famous German DJ Paul Van Dyk, showed off his own DJing skills, playing a never before heard remix of a New Order song at the opening ceremony.
Many more guests will come to Lithuania during the festival, including director and writer of “United States of Love” Tomasz Wasilewski, who was awarded the Silver Bear for best screenplay at Berlinale, Russian cinematographer of “Under the Sun” Alexandra Ivanova, who had to secretly film footage in North Korea, and sound engineer Chris Newman, who has won three Oscars and worked on “The Godfather” and “The Silence of the Lambs”.
Festival-goers will be able to choose from more than 200 short and feature films, all screening in Lithuania for the first time. The programme includes Oscar-nominated dramas “Carol”, “A War”, “Mustang”, and many more.
Kino Pavasaris will also premiere many films to Lithuanian audiences, such as “Mariupolis” by Marius Kvedaravičius, “Kings’ Shift” by Ignas Miškinis, and “Paradise Gowns” by Albina Griniūtė. The festival once again includes the programme Lithuanians Abroad, dedicated to Lithuanian filmmakers working in other countries.
This year, Kino Pavasaris is holding the retrospective Shakespeare Lives, to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. It includes films from prominent directors, based on the playwright’s works. Another retrospective is dedicated to the progressive Lithuanian director Raimondas Vabalas. Kino Pavasaris is also holding a music video competition for the first time. As has become tradition, the international film industry conference “Meeting Point – Vilnius” will be held during the last days of the festival – April 12th–14th. Also returning is the science promotion film festival Eureka.
Kino Pavasaris will continue for two weeks, ending on April 14th. Last year, more than 100 thousand people attended the festival screenings. Tickets to films and events may be found at kinopavasaris.lt/en or in the movie theatres.
About the festival:
The 21st Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” will take place March 31st – April 14th. It is the largest cinema event in Lithuania, and one of the most prominent film festivals in Eastern Europe, having attracted 107 thousand people last year. This year, “Kino Pavasaris” will screen 130 feature films and 70 short films, which representatives of the festival selected by visiting more than 30 international film festivals throughout the year. For more information, visit www.kinopavasaris.lt
Head of Communication for “Kino Pavasaris”
Dovilė Raustytė
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