The eighth Baltic Film Festival has concluded in Boston, with organisers saying the event is becoming an established part of the city’s film scene and attracting not only the Baltic diaspora but also American audiences.
This year’s program featured 27 films from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, including seven from Lithuania.
Among them was Renovation, the feature debut of Lithuanian director Gabrielė Urbonaitė. The film was screened just weeks ahead of its national premiere in Lithuania.
“I’m happy to present the film just a few weeks before its national premiere. Boston is an important place for me because I studied here. Ten years ago, I screened my BA project here, so I feel connected to this place,” Urbonaitė said. “I’m also glad to see Latvian and Estonian films.”
Tim Jackson, a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, said films such as Renovation offer not only emotional impact but also insight into specific countries and historical periods.
“In America, we focus too much on entertainment. We need to think more about the human being, and this film does that,” Jackson said. “I choose to write only about independent American cinema and foreign films. I’m not interested in action movies or franchises. I’m interested in films where people don’t fly between buildings, where there isn’t a film factory, but where you see people and their stories and hear rarely heard languages and what they talk about.”
Lithuanian director Eglė Vertelytė presented her films Tasty (Gardutė) and Miracle (Stebuklas) at the festival. Boston audiences last year saw The Southern Chronicles (Pietinia Kronikas) by Ignas Miškinis, for which Vertelytė wrote the screenplay.
“This festival is a beautiful island of Baltic cinema in Boston, in America,” Vertelytė said. “Many filmmakers have gathered here, and it’s very important for all of us from the Baltic states to meet, even in Boston.”
The program also included Borderline (Siena) by Ignas Jonynas, as well as a documentary about archaeologist Marija Gimbutienė by filmmakers Gintaras Šepučis and Rasa Baltė-Balčiūnienė.
According to Sondra Litvaitytė, coordinator of the Lithuanian program, interest in Baltic cinema is growing. Audience numbers have doubled over the past two years, she said. Last year’s Latvian animated film Flow sold out, and this year Renovation also had a sold-out screening.
After the festival’s conclusion, films by Baltic filmmakers will remain available for streaming for three more weeks.
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