The 9th edition of the Ecrans d'Hiver French film festival in Vilnius pays tribute to the director.
The Écrans d'Hiver festival, created in 2006 and organized by the Institut Français in Vilnius, has now become a highly popular event for Lithuanian film buffs. From January 24 through February 2, 2014, thanks to uniFrance's support, the festival welcomed Otar Iosseliani, accompanied by his producer Martine Marignac, and presented a retrospective of 9 of his films. After several encounters with the public, he was able to respond to the many interview requests from the country's main media, who were keen to meet the director given that French artists don't often go to Vilnius. Apart from the main program featuring 10 films, a special section was devoted to Marguerite Duras and presented 4 of her films. The event toured to 9 cities in Lithuania. The largest of the three Baltic countries, with its cluster of a hundred screens and some 3 million annual filmgoers, seems to have overcome the falling admissions crisis experienced in recent years - even though, it should be noted, of the three Baltic states, Lithuania remains the country with the lowest admissions per year and per inhabitant.
Ecrans d'Hiver link: http://www.ziemosekranai.lt/