L. Bareiša’s latest drama “Sisters” will claim the main prize of the Locarno Festival Culture

“Directors such as Albert Serra, Hong Sang-soo, Radu Jude, Pedro Costa have presented their films at the Locarno Film Festival in recent years. I follow their creative path and it is a great honor for me to present the latest film in Locarno, which pays special attention to original visual language and bolder forms of cinema,” says director L. Bareiša.

According to Klementina Remeikaitė, the film’s producer, Lokarno belongs to the group of “A” class film festivals, just like Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. “Getting into the competition programs of the most important film festivals supports the pulse of the country’s film industry and allows to present Lithuanian filmmakers in the international space”, – the producer is happy with the international recognition.

The director’s debut film won the Venice Lion

L. Bareiša firmly entered the international arena with her debut feature film “Pilgrims” – in 2021. won in the “Horizons” program of the Venice Film Festival. This is one of the highest ratings in the history of Lithuanian cinema. in 2022 at the national film awards “Pilgrimai” was awarded “Silver Cranes” in the categories of best film, director and screenwriter.

“Sisters” is L. Bareisha’s second feature-length film, which takes you to a hot summer weekend at a homestead, where two couples come to spend their free time. Adult relationships, jealousy, eternal competition – themes that will spread in unexpected directions and consequences.

The main roles in the drama “Sisters” were created by Gelminė Glemžaitė (“The Saint”, “Surviving the summer”, “Pats sau millionierius”, “Reemigrants”), Giedrius Kiela (“Pilgrims”, “Surviving the summer”), Paulius Markevičius (“Poet, “Pilgrims”, “Surviving the summer”), Agnė Kaktaitė (“What men don’t know”).

The film “Sisters” was created by the Lithuanian production company “Afterschool”, the Latvian film company “Trickster Pictures” contributed to the production of the film. The production of the film was partially financed by the Lithuanian Cinema Center, LRT, the Latvian National Film Center and the Eurimages Film Support Fund of the Council of Europe.

Photo by Audrias Solomins/Director Laurynas Bareiša with actor Paulius Markevičius

J. Jarmusch is among the winners of Locarno

The film “Sisters” will compete for the main prize of the Locarno Festival – “Golden Leopard” (Pardo d’oro), which is considered one of the most prestigious auteur cinema awards. About 15-17 films selected by the committee apply for it every year, which are selected from several thousand.

Many world-famous directors have the “Golden Leopard” in their prize collection: American film legend Jim Jarmusch, French film icon Claire Denis, Iranian Jafar Panahi, French A.Serra, Hong Sang-soo from P.Korea, Portuguese P.Costa. Last year, the winner was the film “Critical Zone” by Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh.

Film screenings are in the open air

The world premiere of the drama “Sisters” will take place at the Locarno Film Festival, which will be held on August 7-17, which was visited by more than 145 thousand people last year. people. A special atmosphere at the festival is created by “The Piazza Grande”, a place where 8,000 spectators can watch films in the open air at the same time.

Photo by V. Ruzgaitė/The international premiere of the film “Sisters” will take place at the Locarno Film Festival

This year, the main poster of the Locarno Festival was created by Annie Leibovitz, a cult photographer of portraits of world entertainment, art, and political stars. She has captured personalities such as John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Queen Elizabeth II, Michael Jackson, Leonardo di Caprio, Barack Obama, Meryl Streep and others.

“The symbolic figure of Pardo fits wonderfully into the stunningly beautiful landscape of the Locarno mountains and reinforces the powerful cinematic stories we will all experience during the festival,” says Locarno Film Festival President Maja Hoffmann.