(from the project “Survival”)
”Survival“ is a video which rises a number of issues concerning the crises, both economic and spiritual that comes about to make one reassess the priorities in life. Two women – both by the name of Nijolė – are being interviewed. Both of them were activists of Sąjūdis (Reform movement), maintaining the idea of liberalization of Lithuania. The video focuses on the reflections of the two prominent women about the possible ways for the people to overcome the difficulties that they are facing today. They refer to the different personal, historical and religious examples and portray the view of Lithuania as it used to be and as it is now.
Nijolė Sadūnaitė (b. 1938) – a nun, a dissident, member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group and the author of the few books about the working methods of KGB and the struggle for the rights of Catholics in Lithuania, tells about her personal experience pinpointing how she together with her fellows in resistance managed to endure the hardships of the times of oppression.
An actress Nijolė Oželytė (b. 1954) – she is a mother of three daughters, a public figure and a signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania – talks about today‘s Lithuania, the loneliness of the brightest minds and the lack of self-realization. She eventually offers her personal assistance in the process of spiritual development, in case, of cause, there is a request and a possibility to practice it.
Sincere voice-over utterances of the characters of the video merge into the winter landscape. Graphic winter contrasts of black-and-white evoke reminiscences. The moment when Nijolė Sadūnaitė speaks about the Austrians who witnessed the retreat of the Red Army from Austria, from the square in Vienna where they had been situated, one can see Lukiškių Square (formerly called Lenin‘s Square) in Vilnius. The narration of the nun about the heroic Lithuanian guerilla fighters, followed by reflections on contemporary youth is accompanied by the imagery of the churchyard of the Victorious Virgin in Kazokiškės. In spite of the dump located close by, the white church inspires faith (it contains the canvas of Mother of God with the Infant which was famous for its miracles since 18th c.)
Oželytės‘ story about Lithuania and her family and friends is enriched by the sequences of children sledging in the centre of Vilnius. And as she moves along and tells about her journeys around the Lithuanian villages, one can admire the last remains of the countryside in the centre of the city, namely, the huts of the Šnipiškės district, that are soon going to be swept away by the urban development. Likewise the view of the Lukiškių square as it is now will disappear together with last fragments of the Soviet architecture. The reminiscences help to discover links connecting the past and the present as well as to look for the answers to the sorest points in the life of people and the nation-state.
