Svečias - The Visitor

Lithuania Focus 

Thursday 10.9. at 5:30 PM, Tent 

Fiction. 2025, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden

Director: Vytautas Katkus
Duration: 115 min
Themes: Šventoji / Lithuania, nostalgia, humor, summer
Language: Lithuanian, English subtitles
Rating: Allowed

Director-screenwriter Vytautas Katkus and producer Marija Razgutė will be present at the screening.

Danielius, who lives in Norway, returns to the small Lithuanian coastal town of Šventoji in the last days of summer to sell his parents' apartment. While waiting for a buyer, he has time to re-explore the landscapes of his childhood.

Danielius visits familiar places from taverns to forests and encounters people from his past. However, everything feels strange and melancholic.

Shot on gritty 16mm film, Svečias – The Visitor is a charmingly sympathetic and hilariously funny film about life-defining places, goodbyes, and inevitable changes.

Vytautas Katkus's first feature-length directorial work, better known as a cinematographer, represents a powerful new wave of Lithuanian cinema. Katkus's open-mindedness is evident in how the lead actor, Darius Šilėnas, is not an actor at all – he works as a film editor in his day job.

Svečias – The Visitor premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it won the Best Director award. The film's triumph culminated this spring at the Lithuanian Film Awards, where Svečias – The Visitor won the most significant awards for direction, screenplay, and best film.

The film is part of the Karhupuisto Film Festival's Lithuania Focus.

Other credits:

Screenplay: Vytautas Katkus, Marija Kavtaradze
Cinematography: Vytautas Katkus
Editing: Laurynas Bareiša
Production Design: Ieva Rojūtė, Lisanne Fransen
Sound Editing: Julius Grigelionis
Costume Design: Morta Jonynaitė
Choreography: Greta Grinevičiūtė
Makeup and Hair Design: Jurgita Globytė
Producers: Marija Razgutė, Brigita Beniušytė
Production Company: M-films