Festival celebrates the long history of short films

By Kimberly Kweder

VILNIUS - Lithuanian-born film director Adolfas Mekas was one of the pioneers of the New American Cinema in the 1960s and, at 82, has lost none of his radicalism.
“It was a hip movement to find a way of self-financing and bringing down Hollywood,” Mekas told The Baltic Times.
Mekas is a special guest at this year’s Tinklai International Short Film Festival. His film “Hallelujah the Hills” (1963) is just one of many highlights of the ninth annual festival which is running until Oct. 7.
The Ministry of Culture,  Lithuanian Culture and Sport Foundation, and Vilnius and Klaipeda city governments are all sponsoring the festival, in which 180 films from 16 countries are being screened. The films will be shown in Vilnius, Klaipeda, Kaunas, Panevezys, Siauliai and Alytus.

Tinklai Festival director Arturas Jevokimovas said the festival’s name originates from his film about Klaipeda fishermen. The festival came about, according to Jevokimovas, because there was no distribution or forum for short films in Lithuania nine years ago.
In total, the festival has shown over 800 films for more than 70,000 people. Lithuanian audiences have been given the valuable chance to interact with directors, producers and film critics from some 20 countries.
Filmmaker and distributor Pip Chodorov said he decided to have Mekas as a special guest for Tinklai 2007 because he wanted him to gain the same recognition as his brother, Jonas, the “godfather of American avant-garde cinema.”

Mekas and his brother, Jonas, emigrated to the United States in 1949 and together worked on writing scripts for their avant-garde films.
“Everyone seems to know his brother Jonas but not Adolfas. They are both equal in film culture,” Chodorov said.
“Hallelujah the Hills” is typical of the talent shared by the two brothers. With Mekas as director and Jonas as his assistant, they created a light, upbeat romantic comedy about two men in love with the same woman.
The black-and-white film is notable for its laconic approach to narrative. Mekas, like many other experimental filmmakers, chose to focus instead on human feelings and the interaction of natural elements. “You should cut the sound off from Hollywood films and you’ll see nothing else but dialogue,” Mekas explained.
The festival is helping to promote the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center as well as the planned Hermitage-Guggenheim Museum in Vilnius. Tinklai 2007 will be screening shorts in Klaipeda, Panevezys, Siauliai and Altyus until Oct. 7.

For more information visit www.tinklai.net

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