Southern Chronicles

In a working-class neighbourhood of the Lithuanian city of Siauliai, in early 90-ies, brawny 17-year-old Rimants is playing rugby, listening to eurobeat and tries to earn some money on the black market - as nearly everyone at that time. His friend Minde does the same and they are practically sure, that physical strength and money are the essentials for success in this changing, competitive, capitalist society. But when Rimants meets and falls in love with the beautiful, middle class Monika, he is introduced to a new world of literature, culture and alternative possibilities which he explores with guarded enthusiasm.

A portrait of a 90’s generation with a lot of humor, music and the special slang of Šiauliai.

The film is based on the best-seller “Southerside Chronicles” by literary critic, poet and writer Rimantas Kmita. With this novel Kmita built a monument for his hometown, and inspired an interest spike in the location of the book - the very special Southern district of town Šiauliai.

Recognition:

The film won the Baltic Film Competition at the 28th Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, 2024.

Director’s Note:

The maturation of the young man of the newly restored state and his search for himself in a time full of contrasts, illusions and challenges. When you just fake around, you can start to see what’s real.

The screenplay in the film intertwines even more sharply than in the novel the themes of youthful maturation, the poverty of a young state, and the falsifications of life, but it does not move away from the comedy genre. The author of the script, Eglė Vertelytė, masterfully and subtly maintained the satire of the original novel, but at the same time further highlighted the hero’s transformation and inner world.

The language of the film, as well as the novel, is specific - Šiauliai dialect. It enlivens and colors both the dialogues and the events, as well as the main character’s behind-the-scenes narrative, his reaction on the life of the 94th Gen X. However, slang and Gen X posture do not become the main elements of the film. This is not a cartoon. All of this is real and authentic. It is very important to recreate the characters, mood, image and sound of those times. The film looks as if it was filmed in 1994 on a 16mm film. No visual interpretations or distances of these times, no sweetening. In addition to the main story, short, quick-editing collages based on archival footage are used - the flowing and changing time of ‘94. In some places, the heroes blend into the shots of the past, giving even more authenticity to the whole story.