It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the celebrated Lithuanian director has created the Baltic version of American Beauty (1999). The work, recognized with the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award, brings the viewer into the events of the first days and months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, from the perspective of a family living in Vilnius. A Lithuanian couple decides to divorce, sparking an unpredictable, volatile separation that maps the personal onto the geopolitical.

The year is 2022. Marija is an executive and producer at a media and internet content company, fully aware of her expertise and value. Vytas is an experienced director who hasn’t made a film in years, having stepped into the role of a stay-at-home dad. After twelve years together, their only remaining bond is their daughter, Dovile. Both represent the picture-perfect middle class, but their peaceful coexistence is rapidly eroding. Marija expected an exciting life; instead, she found herself trapped in a crisis. The moment they finally resolve to divorce, Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine…

Blaževičius, winner of the main award of 2021 RIGA IFF Feature Film Competition, delivered a high-tension drama with Runner (2021), a brilliant homage to Run Lola Run (1997). Continuing his collaboration with the magnetic actress Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, Blaževičius traces her heroine’s transformation from a twenty-something ahead of her time to the head of a family. The team has created a strikingly realistic fable about the Baltic people living in the shadow of the war in Ukraine. Although stories of the struggles and ideals of the average family are hardly new, Blaževičius’s intertwining of a family crisis with the war in Ukraine and its repercussions across the region raises some important and uncomfortable questions about ourselves. The film has received awards in Hong Kong, Las Palmas, and elsewhere, and was also selected as Lithuania’s entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar