Step from the Forest into the Cinema: The 30th Vilnius Film Festival Focuses on Nature
The Vilnius Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary with a nature-focused program, featuring guided excursions in the green areas of the city. The festival opens with screenings of the Latvian animated film “Flow” which recently won the Baltic region’s first-ever Oscar.
The 30th edition of Vilnius Film Festival, Lithuania's longest-running film festival, will begin on the 7th of March in Vilnius. One of the main themes of the festival in this milestone year is nature.
This year The Vilnius Film Festival has prepared “Where The Trees Grow” program to explore the beauty and fragility of nature. The festival is partnering with Vilnius – European Green Capital to offer an experience outside the cinema: guided nature excursions followed by screenings of the documentary “A New Kind of Wilderness,” directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen. The film was awarded Best Documentary at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary follows the Payne family, who live in the countryside without screens, teaching their children farming skills while nurturing a deep connection with nature. A sudden tragedy forces them to rebuild their lives. The Payne family will attend the festival and a Q&A session.
Renowned forester and environmentalist Raimundas Ereminas will lead guided excursions through Kalnai Park (Kalnų Parkas), a historic green space in Vilnius Old Town. While the park is famous for its stunning city views, it is also home to a diverse range of protected and endangered flora and fauna. These excursions offer a rare opportunity to explore the park’s unique ecosystem and discover how its ecological balance has been preserved in the heart of the city. Ereminas, the founder of the initiative "Try on a Forester’s Hat" (“Pasimatuok eigulio kepurę”), will share insights on sustainable forestry, conservation, and eco-friendly living.
The program “Where The Trees Grow” will also include guided birdwatching tours in Vingis Park with ornithologist Marius Karlonas, later followed by the screenings of the film “Birdsong”. Additionally, there will be a walk through the park with environmentalist and director Mindaugas Survila from The Ancient Woods Foundation along with the screening of his film “The Ancient Woods.” This foundation is dedicated to preserving the oldest Lithuanian forests where the nature is allowed to shape itself without any human influence.
The opening film of the festival is the Oscar-winning Latvian film “Flow” by Gints Zilbalodis. This film is the first one to receive an Academy Award in the entire Baltic region, and festival audiences will have the exclusive opportunity to see it for the first time during the festival.
“Flow” explores themes of environmentalism, telling the story of a cat, normally a solitary animal, whose home is destroyed by a massive flood. Forced to seek refuge on a boat filled with various species, the cat must learn to coexist and collaborate with others despite their differences.
The festival will screen other films that were awarded Oscars like Brady Corbet's “The Brutalist”, which won three awards, and Walter Salles' “I Am Still Here,” named Best International Feature. In addition, the program features newly released Lithuanian films, such as Toxic by Saulė Bliuvaitė. The film follows two teenage girls yearning to escape the bleakness of their small hometown through a local modeling school, where the promise of a better life drives them to increasingly extreme self-destruct. Another notable part of the programme is a retrospect of works by the director Jim Jarmusch.
Every year, The Vilnius Film Festival brings around 100,000 cinema-goers and is one of the most significant cinema events in the region. The 30th anniversary will take place from the 7th to 23rd of March in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, and many smaller cities, and will screen more than 100 films. It promises a rewarding cultural and environmental experience, uniting film lovers and nature enthusiasts for a one-of-a-kind event.