Movie: Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    A meditation on the time when the world watched as filmmaker Jonas Mekas' home country of Lithuania fought for independence. An immersion into the addictive grasp of the 24-hour news cycle, into a moment of major social upheaval, and into one very personal fixation of an obsessive chronicler. The film exists in a shortened, four-screen version as well as a one-screen, full-length document.

  • Release Date

    2009-02-06

  • Average

    9

  • Rating:

    4.5 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    EnglishLietuviųPусский
  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

The Class of ‘92
71%

The Class of ‘92(en)

2013-12-01

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

In Search of the Last Action Heroes
70%

In Search of the Last Action Heroes(en)

2019-09-01

The most comprehensive retrospective of the '80s action film genre ever made.

Downloaded
65%

Downloaded(en)

2013-06-20

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

Wormwood
69%

Wormwood(en)

2017-10-22

In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.

Seduced and Abandoned
62%

Seduced and Abandoned(en)

2013-05-20

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon
67%

The U.S. vs. John Lennon(en)

2006-09-15

A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead
74%

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead(en)

2011-10-18

Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."

My Mom Jayne
80%

My Mom Jayne(en)

2025-06-20

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

John Candy: I Like Me
79%

John Candy: I Like Me(en)

2025-09-04

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

All That Breathes
69%

All That Breathes(en)

2022-10-21

Against the darkening backdrop of New Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite.

For the Love of Spock
74%

For the Love of Spock(en)

2016-09-09

The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
76%

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones(en)

2003-01-19

A years-in-the-making documentary on the legendary punk band the Ramones. Through a mixture of archival footage, archival and new interviews with all members of the band's various lineups, and new interviews with a number of their contemporaries, the film traces the peaks and valleys the band experienced over the course of its 20-plus year career before disbanding in 1995.

A Plastic Ocean
76%

A Plastic Ocean(en)

2016-09-22

A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century
65%

Capital in the Twenty-First Century(en)

2019-09-12

Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
73%

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present(en)

2012-06-13

Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Above Majestic
74%

Above Majestic(en)

2018-10-30

A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.

Avicii: True Stories
80%

Avicii: True Stories(en)

2017-10-26

Documentary about the arena-packing Swedish DJ, chronicling his explosive rise to fame and surprising decision to retire from live performances in 2016.

Looking for Richard
68%

Looking for Richard(en)

1996-10-11

Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
71%

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea(en)

2020-10-11

A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward
71%

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward(en)

2011-01-15

A presentation of a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter will transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical 'life ground' attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a 'Resource-Based Economy'.

Similar Movies

Antigravitation
52%

Antigravitation(lt)

1995-01-01

An isolated village in the Lithuanian countryside. Seated in her house, an elderly woman recites an old folk story. Then she climbs up the tall ladder that takes her to the rooftop of the church.

Frères de la forêt, des résistants face à l'URSS
90%

Frères de la forêt, des résistants face à l'URSS(fr)

2025-01-21

Between 1944 and 1953, 170,000 Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians put up fierce resistance to the Soviet invasion, hiding deep in the vast Baltic forests. Driven by a dream of freedom, they defied a ruthless empire with few resources but unwavering determination. Through previously unseen archives and the poignant accounts of the last survivors, this documentary reveals their clandestine struggle, their heroic sacrifices, and their legacy, timeless symbols of a desperate fight to escape the Soviet stranglehold and preserve the flame of independence.

The Invisible Front
58%

The Invisible Front(en)

2014-03-20

Between 1944–1953, courageous resistance movement took place in the Baltic region of Europe, uniting the partisan troops for struggle against the Soviet Union. “The Invisible Front” was a coded name used by the Soviet Interior forces to describe the resistance movement in Lithuania. Film depicts the story of the fighters through the words and experience of the partisan leader, Juozas Luksa, and interviews with eyewitnesses of those events - both the partisans and the Soviet fighters. Tales of horror, torture and courage are told in the rare archival footage that has never been screened before, and interviews with the surviving members of the resistance movement.

The Baltic Tragedy
0%

The Baltic Tragedy(en)

1985-01-01

Special care has been taken by International Historic Films to assemble this monumental documentary, which tells the story of what is left for a people after its land has been ravaged by war. Situated between the powerful antagonists Germany and the Soviet Union, the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia bore witness to some of the most ferocious land battles of the Second World War.

Master and Tatyana
79%

Master and Tatyana(lt)

2015-10-16

Lithuanian photographer, the legend of Soviet Sixties' generation Vitas Luckus tragically passed away in 1987. Yet the life and times of the talented rebel still impassion and lead us to a journey questioning why, at all times, we are wary of those who are really free.

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
70%

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania(en)

1972-08-02

Jonas Mekas weaves an elegiac diary film from his 1971–72 return to Lithuania, chronicling a visit to his birthplace of Semeniškiai after decades in exile. Blending personal memory with documentary observation, the film becomes both a portrait of homecoming and a meditation on displacement, family, and the passage of time.

La Guerre, Donald Trump et nous : 2025, l'année de tous les dangers
70%

La Guerre, Donald Trump et nous : 2025, l'année de tous les dangers(fr)

2026-01-20

2025, the year of the intensification of a total and deadly war, which nothing and no one seems able to stop, targeting military personnel and civilians, and which has now claimed more than 1.5 million lives or left that many wounded on both sides. But 2025 is also the year of our break with Donald Trump's America, an America with violent and unpredictable reactions, which risks abandoning the old continent, its most loyal ally for 80 years, for Vladimir Putin. How can we stop this bloodshed on our doorstep? How can we contain the master of the Kremlin, a dictator whose predatory logic threatens to spread beyond Ukraine? Sabotage, ghost ships, interference operations, and drone flights: he is already waging a hybrid war against the rest of Europe. Is armed conflict between Europe and Russia now a possibility?

Gustav J.
75%

Gustav J.(de)

1973-05-03

Portrait of 80 year old Gustav J., born in Lithuania, who became a blacksmith and whose paths of life led him to East Prussia, Russia and finally to Germany.

Burial
56%

Burial(lt)

2022-04-15

With striking images and meticulous sound work, Burial reminds us of the paradoxical relationship between scientific development and the destruction of nature. Questioning the effects of human activity on the planet we inhabit and which we have put at risk, the film focuses on the unsolved issues of nuclear plants and nuclear activity.

Ancestral Code
0%

Ancestral Code(uk)

2020-11-06

The documentary film ANCESTRAL CODE is a research into the origins of the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples, the search for their identity through the study of the melodism of Slavic ethnographic heritage. Nowadays many people talk about brotherhood, spiritual intimacy, affinity. The authors analyze the connection between the neighboring peoples of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus and Poland through music and folklore.

Red Terror on the Amber Coast
0%

Red Terror on the Amber Coast(en)

2009-01-01

Red Terror documents the soviet occupation of Lithuania and the resistance movements that sprang up in opposition to the brutal tactics used by the communists from 1941 up to 1991. Stories of deportation, life in the Gulag, exile to Siberia, KGB prison torture, confiscation of land are told by living survivors. Resistance fighters and those who aided them also share their stories for the first time to an American audience. Rare historical photos and moving images are used to bring these stories to life.

Going Home
54%

Going Home(en)

1972-10-04

A home movie by Adolfas Mekas and wife Pola Chapelle on their travels to Lithuania and Europe. It was filmed concurrently with the more highly regarded “Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania” by Jonas Mekas, brother to Adolfas.

Homeland
0%

Homeland(lv)

1990-04-01

The film is an emotional story about fateful historical events in the 20th century, which took place in three Baltic countries- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The story is also about their efforts to gain independence.

One in 3 million
100%

One in 3 million(lt)

2021-12-07

This is the first documentary about the singer Marijonas Mikutavičius. Marijonas Mikutavičius, who is celebrating his fiftieth birthday this year, has been on stage since he was 18 and his song "Trys milijonai (Three millions)" has been called Lithuania's second national anthem. In the film, director Eimantas Belickas allows the viewer to be with Marijonas in his intimate surroundings, without the mask. As one of the country's most popular singers, Marijonas is a man, a father, a Lithuanian citizen, just like many of us. The viewer can see this clearly in the film, but at the same time it becomes clear that creativity makes the singer a unique personality.

In the Lands of Mist
80%

In the Lands of Mist(fr)

2024-03-08

Does Europe also have its own animistic heritage, like Pachamama in South America and Shinto in Japan? If so, which one? In the Misty Lands, i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a sacred fire is lit on the winter solstice to celebrate the return of the sun and ancient beliefs that have been forgotten in the rest of Europe for thousands of years. Sophie Planque and Jérémy Vaugeois decided to take a journey on bicycles to experience the Baltic winter and meet the people who keep their ancestral culture alive. A unique heritage that reinforces a deep relationship with nature.

Arvydas Sabonis 11
82%

Arvydas Sabonis 11(lt)

2014-12-19

The film - an open, sincere, warm and funny story about Arvydas Sabonis life and career. This is particularly characteristic of a T-shirt with the number 11 worn out 2.20 m tall basketball giant Olympic and world champion, portrait.

Code of Tumas
90%

Code of Tumas(lt)

2018-12-07

“Code of Tumas ” is an effort to show the well-known events and processes of history through the eyes of a direct person with a subjective and emotional look. Letters, publicism, all creations of Juozas Tumas Vaižgantas, also memories of his contemporaries make this reconstruction possible.

I'll take Your Bread
0%

I'll take Your Bread(lt)

1987-01-01

Documentary film showing authentic Lithuanian traditions & rituals during major seasonal festivals: Winter solstice, Mardi Gras, Easter, Midsummer.

Kankles: Redefining Tradition
100%

Kankles: Redefining Tradition(en)

2025-06-26

Vaiva Dunaitytė, a gifted 20-year-old musician, shares her lifelong journey with the Lithuanian plucked string instrument, Kanklės- an ancient tradition she’s transforming for the modern world.

Dance Alone
100%

Dance Alone(lt)

2021-05-18