2022 was a spectacular year for Lithuania’s artists: full of awards, global attention, and successful co-creation projects. Lithuanian artists have been visible on the global cultural scene, raising important questions and tackling global problems. Here’s a short list of the most impressive Lithuanian cultural projects in 2022:
Cinema
- Mantas Kvedaravičius’ film Mariupol 2 has been recognised as the best European documentary.
- Aurora’s Sunrise was awarded the Asian Oscar by the Asia Pacific Film Academy.
- Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper’s Vesper won the Jury Prize at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and the Best Production Design Award at the Grimmfest.
- The First Sunday After the First Full Moon, a short film by Greta Griniūte, won an award at the Florence International Film Festival.
- The Giuseppe Bertolucci Prize was awarded to director Kamilė Gudmonaitė and actress Aistė Diržiūtė.
- Giedrius Tamoševičius and Vytautas V. Landsbergis’ film The Poet was named the best film in the Baltics at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
- Dovilė Šarutytė’s Feature Film About Life won the Valencia Film Festival Award and the Special Jury Prize at the Transylvania International Film Festival.
- Laurynas Bareiša’s film Pilgrims received an award at the Central and Eastern European Film Festival GoEast.
- Sauliaus Baradinskas’ short film Techno, Mama was nominated for Best European Short Film in European Film Awards.
- Vytautas Katkus’ short film Berries competed in the main competition programme at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Inesa Kurklietytė’s Butterfly Heart was named Best Children’s Film at the Ditiatko Children’s Film Festival in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was also selected among the 13 best European films by the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA).
Music
- Composer Egidija Medekšaitė was awarded the Global Music Awards medal for her peace Amithaba.
- Jauna muzika Choir introduced the Japanese audiences to Lithuanian music on their month-long tour.
Visual art
- Mikalojus K. Čiurlionis exhibition in London – the first comprehensive presentation of Čiurlionis’ works in the UK attracted enormous interest and media attention.
- An exhibition of the works by environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba in Berlin – European audiences have been introduced to her legacy for the first time.
- The works by young Lithuanian contemporary artists were displayed for the first time at EXPO Chicago, an international exhibition of contemporary and modern art.
- Two photographs by photographer Ričardas Jarmalavičius have been included in the 2022 World TOP100 Monochrome Photographs collection.
Literature
- Part 2 of Kristina Sabaliauskaitė’s Peter’s Empress, published by the Estonian publishing house Varrak, won the Estonian Book of the Year award in the category of prose translation.
- Matilda Olkinaitė’s collection The unlocked diary was named one of the world’s best design works.
Theatre
- Lithuanian National Drama Theatre and the Munich Kammerspiele’s performance Republic was appreciated by the audience at the closing of the prestigious Ruhr Triennale.
- Vilnius Old Theatre play Dawn of the Gods premiered at one of the most important theatre venues ― the prestigious Avignon Festival.
- Lithuanian National Drama Theatre’s (LNDT) performance The Silence of the Sirens by Teklė Kavtaradze won the main prize at the International European Young Directors Festival Fast Forward in Dresden, Germany.
Contemporary dance
- Choreographer and dancer Anna-Marija Adomaitytė was selected as one of the top 20 choreographers of the prestigious European dance network AEROWAVES for her Pas De Deux.
- Choreographer and dancer Dovydas Strimaitis was selected for the finale of the Danse Élargie competition organised by the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.
- Choreographer and dancer Lukas Karvelis’ solo work was selected for the International Solo Dance and Theatre Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.
- Dancer, choreographer, and actress Greta Grinevičiūtė played the leading role in the film SLOW directed by Marija Kavtaradze.
- Raimonda Gudavičiūtė’s dance performance M(other) has been selected for the artistic programme of the International Dance Biennale Internationale Tanzmesse NRW.
