Festival Coordinator in Kaunas Kotryna Lingienė

2000 Meters to Andriivka (dir. Mstyslav Chernov)

COMPETITION
What if the war lasts until the end of our days, Mstyslav Chernov asks at the end of the film, not expecting an answer. His work is a documentary filmed under brutal conditions, scrupulously woven into a screenplay that feels like a confession. The creator has received several major international awards for his powerful reporting from war-torn lands. Yet, no prizes can redeem the lives of the young soldiers fading away before the viewer’s eyes. I try to expand on the director’s question – how is such a paradox possible that only in the face of a grueling war fueled by exhaustion and motivated by fury does the true, uncompromising human being reveal themselves?

No beast. So fierce. (dir. Burhan Qurbani)

CRITICS’ CHOICE
Even if verse isn’t your genre, this epic – where the medieval monster Richard III becomes Rashida, an Arab lesbian raging in underground Berlin – might just captivate you. It is an uncomfortable, visually dense, and detail-rich meditation on why a marginalized person’s fight for self and truth can turn into egoistic entertainment, and subsequently, a dangerous obsession and a destructive force. You will enjoy it if you liked the masterpiece Berlin Alexanderplatz from COVID lockdown time by the same author, Afghan-born director Burhan Qurbani.

Resurrection (dir. Bi Gan)

MASTERS
Dreams are a private territory, a privilege, a coveted subject of research, and… something you would trade in exchange for eternal life. Sounds complicated? This Bi Gan’s work is exactly that. It is a film steeped in magical realism that could easily carry a sci-fi label. Although there are no flying saucers here, the film wins you over with long, tracking deep focus shots capturing soft mist, hieroglyphs, and dreamlike neon. On a personal note, this film planted a thought about the constant reinvention of oneself while seeking new ways to know the world and the self.

Left-handed girl (dir. Tsou Shih-Ching)

CRITICS’ CHOICE, MADE IN TAIWAN
It’s a subtle and gentle, yet never dull, Taiwanese drama about the responsibility we carry when interacting with those younger and less experienced than ourselves. This is a film about the quiet learning of how to live, with all its consequences. The aesthetic of pauses, typical of Asian cinema, envelops the viewer and invites them not to judge – neither the girls who have sinned in the eyes of society, nor their family members still living by old-fashioned rules in 21st-century society.

Renoir (dir. Chie Hayakawa)

CRITICS’ CHOICE
A film-meditation breathing with the aesthetics of 1990s Japan, exploring connection and responsibility, the longing for a loved one, and the consequences of their absence. The realization that the world is sadder than you imagined is truly devastating. There is more mystery here – emphasized even visually by a camera that observes mise-en-scènes as if in secret – than direct moralizing. I recommend this film to all parents who shout at their children in public.

Barrio Triste (dir. Stillz)

LOST, LOST, LOST
Have you also missed films where the tempo is dictated by the rhythm of the music, where the camera trembles more violently than the heroes’ hearts, and where the emotion stirred by scattered shots far exceeds the logic of the script or other boring criteria? Finally, have you missed South America? If so, drop into your seat, lean way back, relax, and open a can of your favorite drink right now. Pshhh. Welcome to Medellín. If you need more convincing, the film was produced by the legendary Harmony Korine, directed by Stillz – the creator of Bad Bunny’s music videos – and features a soundtrack by the Venezuelan artist Arca.