This February, Spectacle is thrilled to host two consecutive evenings with Lithuanian filmmaker ROMAS ZABARAUSKAS, self-described enfant terrible of the burgeoning scene of Baltic LGBTQ cinema and longtime friend of 124 S. 3rd Street.
THE LAWYER
(ADVOKATAS)
dir. Romas Zabarauskas, 2020
97 mins. Lithuania.
In Lithuanian with English subtitles.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 7:30PM with filmmaker Q+A
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Zabarauskas’ most recent feature THE LAWYER follows a corporate attorney in Belgrade named Marius (Eimutis Kvosciauskas) who becomes obsessed with a Syrian refugee (and sex-cam worker) named Ali (Dogac Yildiz). But what initially seems like an exoticized (if not predatory) fixation gives way to a muted and complex rumination on inequality within inequalities. Ali refuses to become a martyr of bourgeois respectability politics for Marius, and their encounter forces the more bourgeois man to confront the limitations of his own privileged bubble – building to a surprising third act that manages to refuse both miserablism and “love conquers all” sentimentality. Evenly sensual and unsentimental, THE LAWYER is a shrewd depiction of the contradictions inherent in a time of “human rights” for some but not all, and the hypocrisy that comes when mores around homosexuality – at least, in major urban areas – are allegedly shifting for the better.
YOU CAN’T ESCAPE LITHUANIA
(NUO LIETUVOS NEPABEGSI)
dir. Romas Zabarauskas, 2016
80 mins. Lithuania.
In Lithuanian with English subtitles.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2 – 7:30PM with filmmaker Q+A
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Romas Zabarauskas’ YOU CAN’T ESCAPE LITHUANIA is a shapeshifting, whiplash-inducing road movie which may seem initially autobiographical (the main character is an enfant terrible LGBTQ filmmaker from Lithuania named Romas) but soon gives way to a metaphysical nesting doll of narratives and counternarratives. Critically feted but not yet a financial success, Romas (Denisas Kolomyckis) agrees to help his star actress Indre (Irina Lavrinovic) escape Lithuania after she kills her mother (in what appears to be self-defense) following an argument over her inheritance. Romas’ boyfriend Carlos (Adrian Escobar) is opposed to the plan, but doesn’t speak the language shared by Romas and Indre, and so tensions mount – worsened by the emergence of what appears to be a sexuality-crossing love triangle. Deadpan and hilarious, YOU CAN’T ESCAPE LITHUANIA evokes Godard’s anti-cinema of the late 1960s, Chuck Jones’ DUCK AMUCK or Wojciech Has’ classic THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT.
screens with
PORNO MELODRAMA
dir. Romas Zabarauskas, 2011
32 mins. Lithuania.
In Lithuania with English subtitles.
Akvilė and Jonas were a couple until Jonas fell in love with a man. But Akvilė cannot forget her lover and continues to appear in porn films, even without him. She begs her childhood sweetheart to make one more film with her. Jonas agrees – but only so that he can leave the country with his lover.
ROMAS ZABARAUSKAS is an inspiring queer success from the New East, from the Berlinale debut of his short PORNO MELODRAMA (2011) to his third feature THE LAWYER (2020) – selected for 30+ festivals, including 7 opening, centerpiece or closing ceremonies. These films introduced diversity to Lithuanian screens, delivering genre-bending films and reflecting on the (im)possibility of meaningful political action. Based in Vilnius with his fiancé Kornelijus, Romas gives back to the LGBT+ community through his activism, recognized with the Harvey Milk Foundation’s LGBTQ Champion Award in 2021. He is currently mid-production on his fourth feature, slated for release in 2024.
Special thanks to TLA Releasing and Dekkoo.