LITHUANIA, LATVIA
2024 – DCP – color – 88”

Direction: Laurynas Bareiša

Screenplay: Laurynas Bareiša

Cinematography: Laurynas Bareiša

Editing: Silvija Vilkait?

Set design: Sigita Šimk?nait?

Sound design: Julius Grigelionis

Costumes: Laura Kraukle

Cast: Gelmin? Glemžait? (Ernesta), Agn? Kaktait? (Juste), Paulius Markevi?ius (Lukas), Giedrius Kiela (Tomas)

Producer: Klementina Remeikait? in coproduzione con in coproduction with Mat?ss Kaža

Production: Afterschool in coproduzione con in coproduction with Trickster Pictures

World Sales: Alpha Violet

Synopsis

To celebrate Lukas” victory at the martial arts tournament and Tomas” birthday party, two sisters organize a weekend at the country house. With their kids, they go swimming in a nearby lake, relax and discuss family finances. After the near tragic
accident of one of the children, the sisters become single mothers.

The director: Laurynas Bareiša

(b. 1988, Lithuania) graduated in Applied Mathematics and Cinematography, and earned a MA in Film Directing (2016). He recently worked as cinematographer on the feature film Summer Survivors (2018), Slow (2023) by Marija Kavtaradze. He directed the short films By the Pool (Venice IFF 2017), Caucasus (Locarno FF 2018), Dummy (Berlinale IFF 2020). His first feature film Pilgrims was awarded for the best film in Venice IFF, Orizzonti Competition 2021. It was selected in competition in Thessaloniki, Jeonju and in New Directors /New Films in 2022.

Director”s statement

“The film essentially is about a group of people dealing with an almost tragic event that causes them experience emotional trauma in different ways.
I used irregular repetition borrowed from dry drowning condition as a structural element of the story in order to highlight the various ways of receiving and dealing with trauma. It helped me organically merge story, subject and theme into one.
Dry drowning or secondary drowning is a rare drowning complication that happens if water gets into the lungs. Small amount of water can irritate the lungs” lining and fluid can build up, causing a condition called pulmonary edema. This condition is important not only as plot devise in the film, but also as the basis for the whole structure of the story. The concept of this perverse iteration of escaping drowning in the water and then experiencing drowning on dry land connected with me personally.”

Filmography

2014 Dembava (short)
2016 The Camel (short)
2017 By the Pool (short)
2018 Kaukazas (Caucasus, short)
2020 Atkurimas (Dummy, short)
2021 Piligrimai (Pilgrims)
2024 Seses (Drowning Dry)

Awards and festivals

2024 Locarno IFF – Competition: Best Direction, Best Actors (Gelmin? Glemžait?, Agn? Kaktait?, Paulius Markevi?ius, Giedrius Kiela)

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