“We don’t like that he is said to be either a madman or a hero. He was just a normal lad,” friends described Romas Kalanta in 1989. He listened to the Beatles, wore his hair long, and embraced the hippie movement. At the same time, he was very religious, interested in politics, history, and philosophy, had his own opinions, and was not afraid to speak out, even if it got him into trouble.

In 1972, when most Lithuanians seemed resigned to life under occupation, Kalanta went to the centre of Kaunas and self-immolated, shouting “Freedom for Lithuania!”. He left a note in his notebook: “My death is the fault of the system.”

He was immediately diagnosed with schizophrenia by a Soviet psychiatric commission. The idea of an independent Lithuania was so unrealistic at the time that any kind of defiance seemed to be a sign of illness to the psychiatrists, says psychiatrist Dainius Pūras. But for some people, he immediately became a hero who inspired them not to be silent.

In the last century, Kalanta was only one of many in the world who chose a form of protest that sociologists call altruistic suicide - when a person sacrifices one’s life for a collective cause. Buddhist monks in Vietnam self-immolated to protest against religious restrictions, and later Americans did so to oppose the war in Vietnam. Eventually, the idea reached the countries of the communist bloc.

This documentary was produced to mark 50 years since nineteen-year-old Kalanta burned down in Kaunas City Garden in protest against the Soviet occupation.

Produced by Rūta Dambravaitė and Sigita Vegytė.

English translation by Ieva Žvinakytė.

Subtitles by Adomas Zubė.

Cover photo by P. Maleta, VDU Lietuvių išeivijos institutas.

Nominated for PRIX EUROPA 2023