From September 12 to 15, 2024, the BLON Animation and Video Game Festival will take place in Klaipėda for the tenth time. To mark this milestone, the festival will present a retrospective of Lithuanian animation, showcasing the transformation and growth of Lithuania’s animation industry over the past decade.
The festival director, Laura Almantaitė, says that the BLON festival was born as an interdisciplinary event where animation and video games intersected, and later the program expanded to include works in virtual and augmented reality.
From the very inception of the festival, it was important for the organizers to present Lithuanian animation and provide a platform for its creators.
“One could say that the BLON festival and the Lithuanian animation industry grew together, hand in hand. From the single Lithuanian animated film in the first year of the festival to a serious and solid competitive program in recent years – this is a significant achievement for both Lithuanian creators, the industry, and the festival itself, which can now boast a strong national focus,” says L. Almantaitė.
According to her, this year’s competitive program of Lithuanian creators’ animation includes several works created in collaboration with foreign creators.
“Over the past decade, our animation industry has grown beyond Lithuania’s borders and gained a lot of global relevance. This is also reflected in the growing number of co-production works. There was a generation of animators who went abroad to study animation or worked only on foreign projects. Today, we see the results of these experiences in our program – we are receiving works from those who have graduated abroad or are still studying,” says the BLON festival director.
According to her, this is also closely related to the funding of animation projects: “On one hand, there was a lack of creators, and on the other hand, funding for animation was more symbolic. In recent years, the attention and funding for animation from the Lithuanian Film Centre have significantly increased.”
This has led to the creation of impressive animation works that have gained international success: “Kaimiečiai” (directed by H. Welchman, DK Welchman, Serbia, Poland, Lithuania, produced by “Art Shot”), “Sielų aukcionas. Neįtikėtina Auroros Mardiganian istorija” (directed by I. Sahakyan, Armenia, Lithuania, produced by “Broom Films”, Germany), “Matilda ir atsarginė galva” (directed by I. Meilūnas, Lithuania, produced by “M-Films”), “Purga” (directed by Gintarė Valevičiūtė-B., A. Skučas, Lithuania, produced by “Tylus kinas”), “Kakė Makė: mano filmas” (directed by M. Valkevičius, produced by “NJ World”).
10 Years, 11 Films
The retrospective program of Lithuanian animation will feature 11 works by Lithuanian creators, which reflect the transformation of the animation industry.
“When we were putting together this program, we wanted to make as deep a cut as possible into the decade of Lithuanian animation, so we chose films from various years, techniques, and themes. I think that what often unites creators of authorial animation are social themes and the creator’s perspective on values, conveyed through different animation techniques and stories with metaphorical narratives. A large part of the films, with some exceptions, is more aimed at an adult rather than a children’s audience,” says Justė Michailinaitė, the curator of the program and the Head of BLON Industry and Distribution.
According to her, although the Lithuanian animation industry is quite young and small, the works of our creators are visible and recognized worldwide—they are selected for animation festival programs, where they collect awards.
At the festival, which will take place during the second weekend of September, in addition to the retrospective of Lithuanian animation, a broad animation film program will be presented. It will feature three competitive short film programs: international, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian creators’ competition programs, and an impressive family feature-length animated film program. The festival will also offer several free film screenings for Klaipėda residents and city guests.
The event participants will be invited to experience VR creations, explore the video game competition program, visit the Danish artist Sara Koppel’s augmented reality exhibition “Animated Reality,” and discover the characters from Ignas Meilūnas’ animated film “Hooves and Skates” at the Klaipėda Puppet Theater.
From September 12 to 15, 2024, the festival events will take place at various locations in Klaipėda: the Culture Factory, HOFAS, KKKC Exhibition Hall, Herkus Kantas, ArleKinas, and the Klaipėda Puppet Theater.
Tickets for the festival events can be purchased on the festival’s website https://blon.lt and through the “Paysera” platform. Tickets are available at a discounted price until September 1.
The festival is funded by the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.