Pievėnai is a small village in western Lithuania, famous for the ancient theatrical tradition of keeping a vigil in the church overnight on the Easter Eve to await the resurrection of Christ. By observing the preparations of the local community for the vigil and immersing the audience in Easter night, the filmmakers raise questions about the relationship between the sacred and the mundane in the life of modern man.
“Not so long ago, our ordinary world has changed beyond recognition, leaving behind its seemingly unshakable system of values, its former, albeit relative, clarity. The pandemic and war have disrupted our time. In such a time, one starts looking for something that lasts a little longer than peace in Europe. The residents of Pievėnai claim that the tradition of the Pievėnai Easter Vigil dates back to the Middle Ages. Using the tools of observational and essayistic documentary, we will try to immerse the audience in the experience of Easter night. Why is this ritual still taking place? Why do people repeat actions that they can barely remember the meaning of? Or is it just part of the identity of the community? If the tradition were gone, who would remember a tiny village on the outskirts of Lithuania? Maybe this tradition is the point of reference for the Pievėnai people? The coordinates of their existence? And maybe all this carnivalesque profanum space is somehow linked to the sacrum space? We will look for answers through this film”, Giedrė Beinoriūtė told FNE.
The film is produced by Jurga Gluskinienė through Lithuanian company Monoklis. The project was partly financed by the Lithuanian Film Centre with 14,900 EUR for development in 2022 and 87,000 EUR for production in 2023-2024. The project is also co-financed by the Lithuanian National Radio and Television. The project is not yet a coproduction, but it’s going to take the possibility of a Film Tax Incentive in Lithuania.
The total budget of the film is 184,929 EUR.
The main shootings were on Easter time in 2023 and the crew is still filming in the Pievenai village, while the producer is looking for an international distributor for the film.
Among Giedrė Beinoriūtė’s recent titles are the documentary Conversations on Serious Topics (Lithuania‘s official entry for the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film Award) produced by Monoklis (Lithuania) and the feature film Breathing into Marble produced by Just A Moment (Lithuania), Mistrus Media (Latvia), Aning Film (Croatia).
Production Information:
Monoklis (Lithuania)
Jurga Gluskinienė: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credits:
Director: Giedrė Beinoriūtė
Scriptwriter: Giedrė Beinoriūtė
DoP: Mindaugas Survila
Sound designer: Saulius Urbanavičius
