Listen to the filmmakers discuss their films at these festival screenings:
Animus Animalis – Lithuania – 2018 – Sat. Nov. 9, 5:00 pm
Afilm about the masters of stuffing animals, who try to restore life where it no longer exists – trying to stop time, and bring back life where it has long been absent. Q & A with producer Giedre Burokaite.
Anthology of the Plot – Lithuania – 2015 – Fri. Nov. 8, 7:15 pm
A look back at one of the most amazing bars in the world, one that experimented with the notion of absolute freedom. Q & A with director Arturas Jevdokimovas.
Motherland – Lithuania – 2019 – Sun. Nov.10, 7:00 pm
A mother and son return to her country Lithuania after her exile in the USA. The wild new East turns their dreams upside down. Q & A with director Tomas Vengris.
Pank – Estonia – 2018 – Fri. Nov. 8, 7:15 pm
The rise and subsequent misfortunes of a young and hungry new bank, which emerges in Estonia in the 1990s, during the early cowboy capitalism of the newly liberated Eastern Europe. Q & A with producer Paul Aguraiuja.
Roots – Estonia – 2018 – Sat. Nov. 8, 2:45 pm
Six personal stories, all by well-known Estonian female directors, connected by a shared symbolic theme of the roots of where we come from and those who are closest to us. Q & A with director Moonika Siimets.
Spoon – Latvia – 2019 – Sat. Nov, 9, 8:15 pm
This ode to the lowly plastic spoonfollows the long, work-intensive journey behind the manufacturing of picnic cutlery. Q & A with director Laila Pakalniņa
Summer Survivors – Lithuania – 2018 – Sat. Nov, 9, 6:30 pm
A road film, where a psychologist Indre is ordered to take two young patients – Paulius and Juste – to a psychiatric hospital in a seaside town. Q & A with director Marija Kavtaradze.
Take It or Leave It – Estonia – 2018 – Sun. Nov, 10, 4:30 pm
What would you do if one day a newborn baby was put on your hands and said: take it or leave it. Q & A with director Liina Trishkana-Vanahatlo.
The Little Comrade – Estonia – 2018 – Sat. Nov, 9, 11:00 am
The nightmare of life in occupied Estonia during the Stalinist era is viewed through the eyes of a guileless six year-old girl. Q & A with director Moonika Siimets.
NYBFF Head of Programs, Jūle Rozīte remarks:
“Join us November 7-10 at Scandinavia House to experience these wonderful films, learn about the Baltics yesterday and today, and meet the filmmakers at the post-screening Q&As. Hear what inspired them to make these films and the creative challenges and surprises they encountered along the way.”