The Kaunas Film Festival was founded by Visos mūzos (“All Muses”), a Lithuania-based public company, to help save Lithuania’s oldest operational cinema Romuva. Another goal of the founders was to support and promote the development of film culture in Lithuania. Over the years, the event has developed into a celebration of the art of cinema, as well as one of the most appreciated film festivals in Lithuania.
Main tasks of the Kaunas IFF are to develop the film industry and film culture in Lithuania, as well as to enable unknown and undiscovered filmmakers to present their works to a wide audience.
The program of the Kaunas International Film Festival is focused on films that reflect not only the latest global cinema trends, but also important public issues in local and global contexts. The festival presents both films that have already gained international recognition and new works that deserve to be noticed. All films in the festival program are Lithuanian and Baltic premieres.
In 2010, the Kaunas Film Festival started theatrical distribution in Lithuania and its neighboring countries, Latvia and Estonia, seeking to create space for independent and art house films in cinemas. The thing is, major distributors in the Baltic countries focus on mainstream Hollywood films, and someone had to step in and do something to increase the number of art house films in the cinema repertoire. Members of the Kaunas IFF committee strongly believe that art house film promotion and distribution is good for the film industry in general.
The festival also pays much attention to educational projects. Its program is packed with special screenings for children and youth, discussions led by film professionals and educators, seminars for teachers, filmmaking workshops, and other events and activities with an emphasis on cinema education.
Photo: kinofestivalis.lt
