Present-day heroes undergoing spiritual crises, searching for themselves and their place in the world go to the sea, too. In Marija Kavtaradzė’s film “Summer Survivors” (2018), a psychologist Indrė (actress Indrė Patkauskaitė) together with two patients, Paulius (actor Paulius Markevičius) with bipolar disorder and Justė (actress Gelminė Glemžaitė) who tried to commit suicide, go to a clinic in Palanga. On the way, they stop on the coast of the Baltic Sea, where the tranquillity allows the three of them to catch their breath, if only for a short time, and feel “normal”, simply young people enjoying the summer. An epic novel by Rimantas Kmita, “The Southern Chronicles” (2024, director Ignas Miškinis), turned into film takes us to the changeable period of the 1990s, when Lithuania after the restoration of Independence put a great deal of effort into catching up with the West as soon as possible. After a high school graduation party, Rimantas (actor Džiugas Grinys) and Mindė (actor Robertas Petraitis) find themselves by the sea and symbolically bid farewell to their adolescence. The roaring of the sea, a night spent in the dunes and the dawning morning signify a start of a new stage in life full of hopes and poetry. The sea also accompanies inner transformation of main characters: a former ballet dancer Malvina (actress Jūratė Onaitytė) and her beloved Kipras (actor Liubomiras Laucevičius), in Mantas Verbiejus’s film “Sand in Your Hair” (2025). Even though they both are of a mature age, they seemingly throw off the burden of years when stepping into the waves of the Baltic Sea, discovering strong feelings and a joy of life again. A severe coastal landscape and sites of Klaipėda city create a gloomy atmosphere in Ignas Jonynas’s drama “The Gambler” (2013). Leaden colours of the sea reflect spiritual turmoil of ambulance staff members Vincentas (actor Vytautas Kaniušonis) and Ieva (actress Oona Mekas) who gamble for death; whereas the juxtaposition of water and land highlight the drama of their crucial choice. In the final scene of the film, Ieva swims into the open sea which becomes the only place to escape and cleanse herself, the place where silence, tranquillity and fundamental truth of nature reign.

Quotes 

“The sea doesn’t want a damn thing, and I just wanna be like the sea. But still, no matter what, I’m gonna sit right here and wait it out, until all the thinking, the hurting and all these stupid cravings finally pass.” – Rimantas (actor Džiugas Grinys) (film “The Southern Chronicles”).

“All Lithuanians have sentiments for the sea.” (Ignas Jonynas, see: https://ve.lt/naujienos/kultura/filmai/ignas-jonynas-losejas-yra-apie-luzio-karta-patekusia-i-brutalu-materialistini-pasauli)

Memories of childhood, family stories, dreams and unfulfilled wishes – all these appearing in contemporary Lithuanian films are related to the sea. It becomes a setting where the past and present, the memory and imagination meet. In Linas Mikuta’s film “Roman’s Childhood” (2020), an eight-year-old boy Romanas with his friend Gytis spend their summer by the sea. Bright, colourful scenes render carelessness of childhood, and the sea signifies a sense of endless freedom, the time when the world seemed to be full of opportunities. A natural beauty of the Baltic Sea and its seaside is used by Vytautas Katkus (“The Visitor”, 2025) to reveal a hero’s transitional state. Danielius (actor Darius Šilėnas) returns to the place which is connected to his past, but he feels like an alien there. After he falls asleep, he immerses himself in another reality: the sea, where a strange island with a growing apple tree floats around. This repetitive imagery seemingly erases boundaries between dream and reality, enhancing a sense of inner uncertainty. A similar manner to view the past is also employed by characters in Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s film “Seneca’s Day” (2016); they belong to the so-called ‘lost generation’ who used to have youthful dreams, but they forgot about them. Simonas (actor Dainius Gavenonis) is trapped in the present and keeps returning in his thoughts to the past, trying to understand where the euphoria, expectations and plans for the future that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union have gone. In the film, the sea becomes a metaphor for lost opportunities, allowing reflection on the disappointment of an entire generation and an escape from reality.

Quotes  

“The sea, the summer, the holidays – all these naturally associate with childhood. However, it also seems that we have been on holiday a long time ago or simply were not alone with our thoughts, didn’t get any rest. That’s exactly what I wanted to show: it’s not that the holiday is compulsory, but rather that it is a must to stay alone with one’s own thoughts, and that is very important for everyone.” (Vytautas Katkus, see: https://www.bernardinai.lt/rezisierius-v-katkus-apie-filma-svecias-nereikia-ziurovams-nurodineti-kada-liudeti-o-kada-dziaugtis/)

“It is said that the sea appearing in dreams symbolises life; however, in the film “Seneca’s Day”, it becomes the symbol of death because the main character is afraid of life, tries to hide from it inside his own shell.” (Kristijonas Vildžiūnas)
“The sea is a specific boundary, an edge which can mean both end and beginning at the same time. It is risk, danger and also cosmos full of opportunities, wonderful things.” (Linas Mikuta)

From anxiety about the future of the state in the interwar period Lithuania to the tragedies of the World War II and the jump of Simas Kudirka into the freedom, the sea remains a silent yet expressive witness of history which retains the traces of collective memory. Intuition of an approaching catastrophe is strong in Karolis Kaupinis’s film “Nova Lituania” (2019) which brings us back to the late 1930s. Vilnius Region has been lost, Klaipėda annexed and Kaunas was permeated with a heavy feeling of the approaching war. The sea, which is the object to visit for a prime minister Jonas Servus (actor Vaidotas Martinaitis) and a geography professor Feliksas Gruodis (actor Aleksas Kazanavičius), reminds of a vision of “spare Lithuania” and unimplemented idea of the maritime state. The sea in Vytautas Žalakevičius’s film “Weekend in Hell” (1987) obtains another meaning. Two fugitives from a concentration camp find themselves in a Nazi resort camp by the sea and jump into the water to escape. Here, they find a shelter for a short time because, once a one undresses, one remains simply a human who breaks free from superimposed political and social identities. A feature film by Giedrė Žickytė, “The Jump” (2020), recreates an exciting story of a Lithuanian, Simas Kudirka. In 1970, he jumped from a Soviet ship “Soviet Lithuania” to a U.S. border guard cutter “Vigilant”, but was returned back. The Atlantic Ocean where this renowned attempt to escape took place becomes a setting for resistance and a symbolical place between Soviet “concentration camp” and the free world. That world is also admired by “The Children from the Hotel America” (director Raimundas Banionis, 1990). A rock music festival taking place at the seaside allows young people experience the feeling of freedom and community, if only for a short period of time; however, early in the morning, it is destroyed by Soviet militia squads armed with rubber batons. In Lina Lužytė’s film “The Castle” (1990), the sea becomes a metaphor for the way back from emigration. A grandmother (actress Jūratė Onaitytė) living in Ireland still feels a sense of attachment to Lithuania and continues living on memories, whereas her granddaughter Monika (actress Barbora Bareikytė) is more focused on the future. In the final part of the film, Monika allows her grandmother to walk into the wide sea (in the final scene, the grandmother keeps wading into the sea and her granddaughter is unable to keep her) which separates her from Lithuania. 

Quote

“When looking at the sea from a shore, it seems vast, endless, eternal, and this comforts; it will not disappear anywhere, it will stay forever. When I’m away, it will definitely be here.” (Lina Lužytė)
 

In Lithuanian animated films, the sea is usually depicted as a sacred mythological space where two worlds meet: the human and the supernatural. Special focus is given to interpretations of a fairy-tale “Eglė, the Queen of Serpents” and a legend “Jūratė and Kastytis”. The film “Eglė, the Queen of Serpents” (2003) by Aurika Selenienė and Algirdas Selenis conveys the mythological atmosphere of the fairy-tale based on the ancient Baltic belief. In Antanas Skučas’s film “Žilvinas and Eglė” (2013) created following a poem by Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, a drama of a human-serpent identity is revealed in a stylised manner. The sea becomes the setting for a crucial choice: Eglė’s entrance into the depths of this natural element signifies not only love, but also an irreversible shift in her fate. The sea is the domain of Jūratė, the queen of the Amber Castle. In a film “Amber Castle” (1959) initiated by Gražina Brašiškytė, the sea is as unpredictable as the love between the goddess Jūratė and the fisherman Kastytis. Nijolė Valadkevičiūtė’s film “Jūratė and Kastytis” (1989) stands out for its experimental expression and surreal aesthetics of collage with prevailing images of waves and amber, whereas the ballad of Maironis is interpreted in a free and modern way. Valentas Aškinis’s “The Adventures of Odysseus’ (2012) is the first Lithuanian full-length animated film that was shot using the classical celluloid animation technique. The sea obtains a universal mythological dimension which becomes the space for chaos and heroic challenges. It symbolises the power of gods, human vulnerability and obstacles which Odysseus has to overcome while travelling back home to Ithaca.  

The theme of the sea in films is usually linked to the existential experience: the endless horizon emphasises the fragility of human life, and the rhythm of waves reminds of the flow of time and continuous change. In Algimantas Puipa’s film “A Woman and Her Four Men” (1983) created on the basis of a novella by Holger Drachmann, the world of old Prussian Lithuanian fishermen is inseparable from the sea. It determines the fates of a woman (actress Jūratė Onaitytė) and all her four men who obey the eternal cycle of nature. The water and the sand make the wheel of existence meaningful, where birth and death constitute an inseparable whole. In Andrius Šiuša’s film “And He Bid You Farewell” (1993), a peninsula of the Curonian Spit becomes a shelter place for strangers and people with mental disorders. In one of the most remarkable scenes captured by a cameraman Algimantas Mikutėnas, all characters gather in a rusty ship cast ashore. Here, they can be who they really are and escape the reality and break free from the norms superimposed by society, if only for a short while. In Šarūnas Bartas’s “Freedom” (2000), the scenery of North Africa’s coast highlights loneliness of the film’s characters and total impossibility of freedom. The raging ocean becomes an equal participant of the story, whereas birds, crabs and gigantic waves much more harmoniously blend into the world order than people who are wandering along the coast. An architect Jonas Pajaujis who is a hero of a film “Good Day” (director Henrikas Šablevičius, 1993) seemingly becomes one with the landscape of the island of Gotland. Even though the sea has separated him from occupied Lithuania, it remained a sign of spiritual bond with the homeland. In Vytautas V. Landsbergis’s film “The Old Man by the Sea” (2022) dedicated to the director’s father who is a politician and a musicologist, Vytautas Landsbergis, in front of the sea he reflects on his life path, accumulated experience and a sense of eternity.  

Quotes 

“The seaside as a shelter for misfits, fantasisers, geniuses, as a space where they can hide from routine, ‘normal relationships’ was most suggestively shown in Andrius Šiuša’s film “And He Bid You Farewell” (1993). Perhaps no other film exploited the diversity of landscapes, textures, perspectives, nature and architecture of the seaside and the lagoon region with so much love and selfishness (spelling is correct, the text is available on-line at: https://literaturairmenas.lt/kinas/rasa-paukstyte-vieta-atostogauti-ir-filosofuoti-o-gyventi). The creation of the film was sponsored. A. Šiuša, a cameraman Algimantas Mikutėnas, an artist Naglis Karvelis created the film in Neringa; it was based on a novella “Notes of Mauritz Bred” by a Lithuanian writer in emigration, Eduardas Cinzas, (Rasa Paukštytė. “The Place to Spend Holidays. Or Maybe to Live? Fragments of the Seaside in Lithuanian Films” (in Lithuanian ‘Vieta atostogauti ir filosofuoti. O gyventi? Pajūrio fragmentai lietuviškame kine’). In: “Literatūra ir menas”, 07.06.2024, No. 11 (3793).)

“In our mythology, the sea is a strong, archetypical symbol. Of eternity, infinity, god, afterlife; by the sea, we always feel this restless and blessing greatness.” – V. V. Landsbergis (see: https://lsveikata.lt).

In the 1960s–1970s, Lithuanian films were attributed with a specific poetic tradition which continues to the present day. The creators of it invited to look at the daily routine anew and to discover beauty, meaning and sacredness in simple things. In those films, the sea became a reflection of human feelings and the internal world, which allowed using the language of metaphors to talk about national consciousness and fundamental values. In a legendary film “Feelings” (directors Almantas Grikevičius and Algirdas Dausa, 1968), the element of water is an essential part of the plot and symbolism. The sea and the Curonian Lagoon reflect inner states of twin brothers, Kasparas (actor Regimantas Adomaitis) and Andrius (actor Juozas Budraitis): suppressed passions, insatiable longing, fear of the post-war. The sea, wintry, frozen at the coastline, heavily waving in ice leads, and a biting wind – these are silent companions of an unavoidable threat. The sea also performs an important dramatic role in Arūnas Žebriūnas’s film “The Girl and the Echo” (1964). Vibrating seaside air, the rhythm of the waves and vast panoramas subtly reveal the spiritual purity of a little girl, Vika (actress Lina Braknytė), and the film itself resembles a poem about childhood and the first encounter with betrayal. In Algirdas Araminas’s film “A Small Confession” (1972), the Baltic Sea is juxtaposed to the grey, depressing routine of a Soviet-period school and family dramas. An eighteen-year-old son Arūnas (actor Andrius Karka) is in search of his place in life; therefore, the port of Klaipėda, ships and the sea express his craving to break away from daily routine. Deliberately, the phrase “Benas, let’s go to Nida!” meant the dreams about freedom, romanticism and life without restrictions shared by the youth back then. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy-tale, the film “Fen-Fires” (1980) created by Gytis Lukšas reflects the magical, poetic worldview characteristic of the writer. The sun setting in the sea, a piece of amber found on the seashore seemingly remind that its every piece hides its own story or a fairy-tale untold yet.    

Quotes

“The sea is like human conscience, seems calm from a distance only.” (A. Grikevičius)
“In films by Araminas, the sea is a reflection of heroes’ sincerest feelings, sometimes exaggerating, exalting them, sometimes absorbing them, bringing calm or comfort.” (Neringa Kažukauskaitė. “Algirdas Araminas. The Lyricist of the Screen” (in Lithuanian ‘Algirdas Araminas. Ekrano lyrikas’) In: “Lietuvos kinas. Laiko slenksčiai, raidos ženklai”, vol. 1. Vilnius: Lithuanian Film Centre “Avaka”, 2024, p. 410–421.)

During the years of Soviet occupation, the imagery of the sea in Lithuanian documentary films was used to create narratives on collective work, industrialisation and “socialist progress”. The expansion of the port of Klaipėda, fishing in distant seas and search for new maritime routes formed a mindset that progress is inseparable from the Soviet system. Abundance of maritime sketches was a characteristic feature of a former cameraman at the front, Georgijus Chnkojanas, whose film “In the Atlantic Ocean” (1954) narrated about the first Lithuanian herring fishing expedition and daily routine of seamen. A similar ideological worldview was also revealed by Leonardas Tautrimas’s film “Seagulls Looking for the Sea” (1963) depicting the voyage following seagulls from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and rendering the belief in the bright future and man’s ability to conquer the sea. However, part of directors ignored the censorship and sought for their unique style. A directorial debut of Algirdas Araminas, “I Am Rambynas” (1964), shows a dramatic rescue operation in a stormy sea where people faced a raging element of nature. One of the most open Lithuanian documentary films of the Soviet period, “Seasickness” (1980) by Robertas Verba, talks about a crisis in the relationship between Captain Eimutis and his wife Edita. Long-term separations and loneliness become a core theme of the film, and the Arctic ice symbolises the fracturing family ties. Rimantas Oičenka’s film “Voyage” (2022) based on archive footage filmed by Laimutis Janutėnas in 1975 re-considers the experiences of Soviet seamen anew. Daily routes across the Baltic Sea and the North Sea interweave with hopes of a better life, and long-distance voyages express not only the entering into the wide world, but also emotional challenges. 

Quotes

“Leaden greyness of the sea in the film appears interchangeably as a contrast to the scenes of “Rambynas” ship’s cabins filled with harsh, dramatic electric light. A. Araminas has flawlessly filmed the sketch, excelling in terms of the cameraman’s technique in his best works in artistic cinematography.” (Saulius Macaitis. “The Harvest of the Documentary-Makers” (in Lithuanian ‘Dokumentalistų derlius’) In: “Literatūra ir menas”, 11.07.1964, No. 28.)

“Across the Baltic Sea, the North Sea towards the Bay of Biscay, there lies the route of the crew of a ship called “Nemunėlis”. Yes, the sea in the film is a job that will help Laimutis earn good money and buy a fridge, improve his domestic life. It is also a job that tests the feelings, as it has separated the newly-weds for a long period of time.” (Rasa Paukštytė. “The Place to Spend Holidays. Or Maybe to Live? Fragments of the Seaside in Lithuanian Films” (in Lithuanian ‘Vieta atostogauti ir filosofuoti. O gyventi? Pajūrio fragmentai lietuviškame kine’). In: “Literatūra ir menas”, 07.06.2024, No. 11 (3793).)

In the period of Independent Lithuania (1918–1940), national film chronicles were rapidly developing. First filmmakers tried to capture various sites of Lithuania, including the most prominent seaside resort town of the country, Palanga. In the film chronicles recorded in August of 1929, the Baltic Sea is depicted as a fun space to relax: full of activities, joy and opportunities to socialise. An actor of theatres “Werewolf” and “Nation’s Theatre”, Juozas Olšauskas (1893–1973), and his friends appear among other holidaymakers. 

When Soviets occupied Lithuania, even landscapes of the seaside obtained an ideological tone. In an updated studio of the Film Chronicles in Kaunas, propagandist film journals “Soviet Lithuania” started being made after April 1946. They were shown throughout almost entire period of occupation and formed an ill-shaped societal attitude towards reality. A film journal directed by Liudgardas Maculevičius on a summer camp for pioneers in Palanga was created following the stylistics of socialist realism: raised tone and optimistic mood reflected the official ideology, and recreation by the sea was understood as a very important part of Soviet education.   

The first feature film for children that was created solely by Lithuanian cinematographers, “The Blue Horizon” (director Vytautas Mikalauskas, 1957), is based on a dominating romantic image of the sea. In this adventure comedy, Vytukas and his friends who dream of becoming seamen and enter Klaipėda Maritime School run away from home. The sea is children’s greatest goal: it reflects a bright, limitless world which is full of adventures and new horizons.  

Even though the Baltic seaside covers quite a small part of Lithuania’s territory, the cultural imagination of Lithuanians has always been focusing on the sea meaning much more than a geographical space, it was the gate of the state to the world, it inspired myths and legends, formed people’s lifestyles; whereas in films it has become one of the most universal imageries. The exhibition “The Sea in Lithuanian Films” overviews the image of the sea from the beginning of the 20th century to the present days and reveals how the meanings of it were changing, from a realistic scenery and historical memory to internal experiences, national identity and metaphor of existence, for the first time.  

In different periods of time, filmmakers perceived and interpreted the sea in different ways. In film chronicles of the interwar period Lithuania (1918–1940), it is depicted as a space for leisure and community. In later decades, the image of the sea gained new meanings which reflected the changes in society, history, language of films. In the Soviet period, under prevailing censorship and doctrine of socialist realism, the sea in a broader sense was used to create an idealised variety of reality: even daily routine of seamen, expansion of Klaipėda port and long-distance fishing voyages were included in a narrative of propaganda. However, in the 1960s, additionally to the official trend of films, a variety of the poetic film started emerging. Primarily, it is associated with the tradition of documentary films; nevertheless, features of poetic aesthetics appeared in feature films, too. Being unable to openly express their beliefs, film directors chose the language of metaphors and symbols as well as philosophical generalisations. Consequently, the depiction of the sea was changing, too: it no longer was a scenery or a background for action only, but rather became an equal participant of the story being told. Being changeable and mysterious, it created the mood of a film, expressed feelings of characters, emphasised the flow of time and fragility of human existence. Often, this element of nature was perceived as a living mystical organism, and sometimes the shore meant a symbolic boundary between mundane reality and the unknown. In animated films, the sea turned into a mythological space which was related to ancient Baltic beliefs, fairy-tales and legends. Eventually, interpretations of the sea multiplied, and its symbolic meanings obtained characteristics of metaphysics and magic realism, gradually becoming more diverse and complex. In films of both the late Soviet period and the restored Independent Lithuania, the sea reveals itself as an endless and unruled element of nature, against which the order created by humanity loses its power: borders of civilisation and social status disappear and restless waters embody an eternally pulsating cycle of life. The sea is the witness of the historical memory, too; it reminds of the dramatic events of the 20th century, talks about efforts of people to survive when facing geopolitical turmoil, renders the meaning to the pursuit of freedom and hope of liberation. In contemporary films, new interpretations of the sea emerge: it often acts as a background for characters facing critical moments of life, becomes a reflection of spiritual crises and the search for identity. By employing the image of the sea, experiences of different generations, various fractures of society, e.g. establishment of capitalism and materialism, changes of values and endeavours to find one’s own place in a rapidly changing world, are considered.     

Eight sections of the exhibition present diverse images of the sea in Lithuanian films. When travelling through different periods and films, visitors are invited to not only watch the sea in a film excerpt, but also to hear, feel and live it like a comprehensive experience. 

Curator: Auksė Kancerevičiūtė.
Designer: Ona Vėliūtė.
Creative team: Nideta Jarockienė, Vidmantas Kazlauskas, Aida Kavaliauskaitė.
Technical solutions: Audrius Janulevičius, Evaldas Narkevičius.
The films were lent by: Lithuanian State Central Archives, Lithuanian Film Centre, “Studija Kinema”, film studio “Nominum”, studio “A Propos”, “Vilanima”, “Moonmakers”, “Artbox”, “Lela films”, “M-films”, “Studio Uljana Kim”, “In Script”, “Fralita Films”.