At the Locarno Film Festival – the world premiere of Saulė Bliuvaitė’s film “Akiplėda”. Culture

“The world premiere of the debut feature film at such a prestigious festival is a huge appreciation for the director and the entire team, but the inclusion of “Akipläpa” in the international competition program adds even more importance and weight. Although the Locarno Film Festival has a special program for debuting directors, the film “Blind Heist” immediately jumped into the festival’s main competition. This festival loves auteur cinema, it is not afraid of new forms of storytelling, so it is especially fun and important for us to be noticed so strongly here,” emphasizes Giedrė Burokaitė, producer of the film “Akiplääsa”.

Personal archive photo/Shot from director Saula Bliuvaitė’s film “Akiplääsa”

In the international competition program of the Locarno Film Festival, the works of directors already well known around the world are presented every year. Creators such as Albert Serra, Wang Bing, Lav Diaz and others have previously presented their films in this program. At this year’s festival, Saulės Bliuvaitė’s film will compete with such well-known names as Hong Sangsoo, Wang Bing, Ben Rivers in the international competition program. This program will also present the new film “Drowning Dry” by Lithuanian director Lauryns Bareišas.

Saulės Bliuvaitė’s film “Akiplääsa” follows the search for identity of two teenage girls in a decaying industrial area, where curiosity and danger exist as inseparable things. Thirteen-year-old girls do not yet know what beauty, sexuality and love mean to them, so they follow the perceptions of their friends in the yard and try to replicate what is considered “normal” in the environment. Blind Heist is a film regarding the desire to fit in and the price we pay in our pursuit of perfection.

Personal archive photo/Director Saulė Bliuvaitė

“This story is based on real events and the characters are real people. When I started making this film, I thought that I was telling a story regarding the past, regarding the face of my generation, regarding what is no longer there, but during the creative process I realized that the topic of the film is very relevant to them as well. I allowed myself not to be tied to the era, to combine my experiences with the stories of modern teenagers. This formed the world of this film, which has no definition of time,” says Saulė Bliuvaitė, the director of the film “Akipläsa”.

“Akipläsa” is Saulė Bliuvaitė’s debut feature film. Her previous short documentary Limousine premiered at the New Directors/New Films US film festival organized by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and won the Best Documentary Short Award at the Warsaw Film Festival. Saulė Bliuvaitė is also the co-author of the script of the film “Izaokas” (dir. Jurgis Matulevičius), nominated for the European Film Awards, and one of the editing directors.

Personal archive photo/Shot from director Saula Bliuvaitė’s film “Akiplääsa”

Lithuanian viewers will be able to see the film “Akiplääsa” in the spring of 2025. The main roles were played by the debuting actresses Vesta Matulytė and Ieva Rupeikaitė, and Giedrius Savickas, Eglė Gabrėnaitė, Vilma Raubaitė were also called. Operator: Vytautas Katkus, artist: Paulius Aničas, producer: Giedrė Burokaitė. The film was partially financed by the Lithuanian Film Center.