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Motherland

    All titles (3)
    Feature Film | 2017-2018 | Coming of Age, Drama | Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania

    Brief synopsis

    A boy stares out the window as an old car rattles over uneven streets. He hears his mother’s voice, recounting her childhood memories: running through endless fields of wildflowers on her father’s beloved lake-side property, skinny-dipping in the silver moonlight, dancing under the falling blossoms of the apple-trees. But the view from the back seat tells a different story — stray dogs scour the crumbling sidewalks for food, an old grandmother searches trashcans for empty bottles. These are the fresh wounds of a country struggling to shed its Soviet past. The boy’s eyes dart back and forth as he takes in the sites of Vilnius, Lithuania. 1992. Shortly after the fall of the iron curtain, rebellious 12-year-old KOVAS travels to his mother’s homeland for the first time. Kovas is experiencing his first taste of teenage rebellion as he watches his mother try to balance her parental duties with her emotional homecoming.

    VIKTORIJA (47) is going back to reclaim her family land. It has been 20 years since she escaped the USSR. Consumed with nostalgia and tired of her crumbling marriage and failed career, Viktorija secretly hopes to find a new start in the fledgling country. Viktorija’s handsome, charming former love, ROMAS (49), has useful government connections and offers to escort them to the family land. He brings his daughter, MONIKA (13) along; Kovas is immediately smitten by the braided beauty. The group takes several days to travel the countryside. Kovas gets a taste of the independence he has yearned for; he gets drunk on homemade beer, nabs his first kiss. He is intoxicated by this magical land. They finally arrive at the property, only to find several poor families occupying the tattered estate. When Romas attempts to force the tenants out, things begin to unravel. Viktorija refuses to let him go forward with his plans, but Romas will not relent. He feels Viktorija owes him a debt for what she did to him many years ago. As Viktorija’s complicated past comes roaring into focus, the family must figure out a way to keep from falling apart.

    Cast

    ActorRole nameVoice actor / SpeakerVoice actor
    Matas MetlevskiKovas [L]
    Severija JanušauskaitėViktorija [L]
    Darius GumauskasRomas [SR]
    Barbora BareikytėMarija [SR]

    Crew

    ActivityNameComment
    Director of photographyAudrius Kemežys
    Costume designerAgnė Rimkutė
    DirectorTomas Vengris
    EditorGintarė Sokelytė
    ComposerKārlis Auzāns
    ProducerChristos V. Konstantakopoulos
    ProducerSebastian Weyland
    ProducerRoberts Vinovskis
    ProducerKnut Jäger
    ProducerUljana Kim
    Production designerRamūnas Rastauskas
    ScreenwriterTomas Vengris
    Sound designerSaulius Urbanavičius

    Festivals

    YearCountryFestivalComment
    2019South KoreaBusan International Film Festival
    Sektion: Flash Forward
    Sektion: Flash Forward

    Cinema releases and premieres

    TypeCountryDateComment
    Theatre releaseLithuaniaWednesday, 04/09/2019