Gentle Warriors
Dir. Marija Stonyté / Lithuania, Estonia / 2020 / 74’ / Polish premiere
Section:
HERstory
Director: Marija Stonyté
Screenplay: Marija Stonyté, Vėjūnė Tamuliūnaitė
Cinematography: Vytautas Plukas
Editing: Mirjam Jegorov
Music: Ann Reimann
Producer: Giedre Žickyte
Production: Moonmakers in co-production with: Vesilind
World sales: CAT&Docs
Language: Lithuanian
Website: https://catndocs.com/index.php/categories/women/1142-gentle-warriors
CREDITS
DESCRIPTION
Since Russia annexed Crimea, the military conscription for men was reinstated in Lithuania due to the growing concern within the country over its susceptibility to Russian military intervention. Simultaneously, a number of young women decided to register for military service on a voluntary basis. We follow 3 of these girls for 9 months as they live and train among 600 men at an isolated military base. In the beginning, the girls exploit a fanciful idea of what it means to be a soldier. A gentle girl, Agne, is dreaming of growing up and leaving her family home. Another girl – a tomboy Karina - sees the military as a chance to avoid the fate of her peers who all ended up working in supermarkets. Finally, a girl called Gintare just fancies the idea of wearing a soldier’s uniform at her wedding. Their romantic visions are soon altered as they start the service and their expectations are challenged by reality.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
GZDOC Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, Trieste Film Festival, IFI Documentary Festival
DIRECTOR
Marija Stonyté
Born in 1991, Vilnius, Lithuania. She received her BA and MA in Film Directing from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Prior to her studies, she completed a course at the Skalvija Film Academy. In addition, she studied at the Escola Superior Artistica do Porto in Portugal. Marija’s short fiction and documentary films have received both national and international awards. She took part in educational projects and seminars - both as a participant, and as a lecturer. She lectured film directing and scriptwriting at the Film School “Youngblood”. Marija was a jury member at the 61st San Sebastian IFF’s “International Film Students Meeting”, 2013. In 2018, Marija Stonyté was selected by Vilnius Town Hall to be a Lithuanian representative in the lens-based digital media artist’s residency in Aviles, Spain. She is also the recipient of The Young Artist Award 2017 from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.
IMAGES GALLERY
PARTNER ORGANIZATION
