The film “Stiklo šalis“ (“A Land of Glass”) by Janina Lapinskaitė  is going to be presented at the Fourtieth  Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czechia. “Stiklo šalis“ will be competing in the program “East of the West”. Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the most prominent A class international film festivals in Central Europe.

 

“Stiklo šalis” is Janina Lapinskaitė's feature film debut. Earlier she was active as a documentary film director. “Stiklo šalis“ is the screen version of the novel with the same title (by the Lithuanian writer Vanda Juknaitė). It present in subtle ways the inner world of a lonely woman performed by the actress of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre Jurga Kalvaitytė. The cinematography of the film is by Algimantas Mikutėnas.

 

The official distributor of “Stiklo šalis” is Garsų pasaulio įrašai. The film has been shown in most of the cinemas in Lithuania, around 3000 viewers saw it. In the near future, it is going to be shown in Rokiškis, Kretinga, Palanga, and Elektrėnai.

 

Previous works by Janina Lapinskaitė, such as “Iš elfų gyvenimo” (“From the Life of Elfs”), “Iš avinėlių gyvenimo” (“From the Life of Lambs”), “Venera su katinu” (“Venus with a Cat”), “Aktas” (“Nude”), and others were presented in many international film festivals and received prestigious awards, including the award of The Best Baltic Sea Region Film for “Venecijaus gyvenimas ir Cezario mirtis” (“Venecijus’ Life and Cezaris’ Death”) at the Arsenals International Film Forum (Latvia).

 

In 1960,  the Lithuanian film “Gyvieji didvyriai” (“Living Heroes”) by  Balys Bratkauskas, Marijonas Giedrys, Vytautas Žalakevičius, Arūnas Žebriūnas received the Main Award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This film consists of several stories, each of which was directed by a different director. The part of it entitled “Lakštingala” (“Nightingale”) by Balys Bratkauskas received the award of the International Critics Association. The cinematographer Jonas Gricius was recognized for his visual-poetic expression in the part of the film entitled “Paskutinis šūvis” (“The Last Shot”) by Arūnas Žebriūnas.

 

Since 1990, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has seen the following Lithuanian films: “Praėjusios dienos atminimui”, “Koridorius” (“The Corridor”) by Šarūnas Bartas; “Laukimas” (“Anticipation”) by Diana and Kornelijus Matuzevičiai; “Viena” (“Alone”) by Audrius Stonys; “Kiemas” (“Courtyard”) by Valdas Navasaitis; “Nuomos sutartis” (“The Lease”) by Kristijonas Vildžiūnas.