Comedy film festival starts in Palanga: “A good comedy is not afraid to be misunderstood” | Culture

The program of the debut festival also promises this, which is extremely rich in short films by Lithuanian filmmakers, covering more than the last decade – as many as seven of them in the program. Documentary and feature films analyze different topics, the focus of which is family relations, the meeting of the State Lithuanian Language Commission, cheburek sellers, the lure of easy money and modern technologies. And what is a good comedy for the directors themselves?

Photo of the organizers/Titas Laucius

“I think a good comedy doesn’t try to please everyone. She chooses her audience, she is brave and most importantly, she is not afraid to be misunderstood. Such a comedy for me is M. Forman’s “The Gap”, director Titas Laucius shares his recommendation, having recently presented the long subway film “Paradas” to the audience.

Tomas Bručas, the director of “Cheburek sellers” also has his own approach to comedies.

Photo of the organizers/Tomas Bručas

“I don’t watch comedies myself anymore. I miss them in cinema, I miss quality, adequate, healthy content and attitude towards this genre. However, I no longer need movies to watch comedies. It is enough to leave the house, watch the news, scroll through social media. I think we live in an everyday life full of comedy. Only the scripts and the actors are so good that they don’t even know they are acting,” says the director, who made a film about a well-known and inseparable cultural part of Palanga – cheburek sellers.

Organizers’ photo/Scene from the movie “Cheburek Sellers”

Most filmmakers believe that good comedy comes from life itself, from observing it. Greta Griniūtė, the director of “First Sunday after the first full moon”, says that: “A good comedy must always have elements of everyday life that are recognizable to the bone and become funny because of that.

Photo of the organizers/Vytautas Oškinis

“Komisija” director Vytautas Oškinis also shared his experience: “I didn’t plan to create a comedy, but it happened by itself. You probably can’t escape yourself when, next to serious topics, you see brooding absurdity and life motives that don’t seem to hit the rhythm. I cherish those moments and that kind of humor (and that kind of comedy).”

Inevitably, we will find drama in comedy. “I once read in a book that there is drama in a good comedy, and I really liked that idea. When writing the script, I didn’t try to create a comedy, I thought more about the characters of the film and their needs. I think the comedy in this film comes from the different social contexts of the characters, the motivations that make them difficult to reconcile. And that’s why they meet each other!” – the director of “Konsultacijas” Adas Burkšaitis shared his thoughts. “Eine Schokoladen Lampe” director Andrius Bartkus ventures into an even darker layer of comedy. “Comedy is someone else’s failure, or some other person’s misfortune,” he says.

Organizers’ photo/Scene from the movie “The Failed Scenario”

All these films and more will be available to the audience to see and appreciate next week at the “Only without dramas” festival. The festival starting in 2024 will show films loved by the international audience, as well as Lithuanian premieres and retrospectives of various creators. We will not forget short films, animation and the talented generation of students, who every year delight more and more with their different approach and new narratives.

Festival “Only without drama”

• August 23, 6 p.m. Palanga Culture Center (Grafų Tiškevičius al. 1, Palanga) “Failed scenario”, dir. Kristina Sereikaitė and Linas Mikuta, 2010, Lithuania, 10 min. “Commission”, dir. Vytautas Oškinis, 2019, Lithuania, 11 min. “Family”, dir. Titas Laucius, 2019, Lithuania, 21 min. “Consultation”, dir. Adas Burkšaitis, 2021, Lithuania, 7 min. “Cheburek sellers”, dir. Tomas Bručas, 2011, Lithuania, 27 min.
• August 24, 8 p.m., OLDMAN park (Jūratės g. 2a, Palanga)
  “A Chocolate Lamp”, directed by Andrius Bartkus, 2020, Lithuania, 23 min.
  “Luxembourg, Luxembourg”, dir. Antonio Lukich, 2022, Ukraine, 1 hour. 45 minutes
• August 25, 8 p.m., OLDMAN park (Jūratės g. 2a, Palanga)
  “The first Sunday after the first full moon”, dir. Greta Griniūtė, 2021, Lithuania, 15 min. “Niekalienė”, dir. Kinga Dębska, 2021, Poland, 1 hour. 34 min.

Comedy film festival “Only without drama” – will be held on August 23-25 ​​in Palanga. Events are free, but until August 23 movie viewing is a must registration.