Jurga Vilė, Kornelija Žalpytė. Džuljeta ir kino kaukai (Juliet and the Cinema Spirits), Vilnius: Visual Culture Studio (Vaizdų kultūros studija), 2025. – 56 p.

Juliet and the Cinema Spirits is a children’s book about cinema that combines informational content with a fictional narrative and incorporates numerous comic elements. The story begins with a boy named Luke describing his family, which becomes a gateway into the history of cinema. For instance, Luke’s grandmother Juliet, who works as a film projectionist, was named after the Italian actress Giulietta Masina, the wife of Federico Fellini. Her memories of Luke’s grandfather, who liked to wander in the fog, recall his favourite film, Port of Shadows by Marcel Carné. The boy himself received the name Luke from the Latin word lux, meaning ‘light’, just like the surname of the Lumière brothers, the pioneers of cinema, which also means ‘light’ in French. Alongside facts from film history and numerous cinematic terms, readers are introduced to aspects of the creative process. These are illustrated through imaginative metaphors, such as a whale that swallows filmmakers and mysterious cinema spirits who – like Luke – dream of making films. Kornelija Žalpytė’s soft two-colour illustrations, sometimes incorporating collage elements that create a sense of spatial depth, are executed in pencil and gouache on yellowish paper, evoking the dim atmosphere of a cinema hall. The dynamic rhythm of the images alternating with calmer sequences closely follows the narrative, while the stylistic unity of the visuals immerses the reader in a magically evocative emotional atmosphere.

Jurga Vilė (b. 1977) is a Lithuanian children’s writer and translator. After studying French philology at Vilnius University, she continued studies in visual arts and film archiving and restoration in Paris. She has worked as a film director’s assistant and festival coordinator and has written for cultural publications. She is the author of ten children’s books. She has created ten children’s books (as the author of the text): Švelnumo fabrikėlis (The Tenderness Factory, 2018), Chameleono sapnai (Chameleon Dreams, 2021), Pulpas ir jo žalia koja (Pulpas and his Green Leg, 2021), Šuo, kuris išeina naktį (The Dog Who Goes for a Walk at Night, 2023), Kašalotų radijas (The Cachalot Radio, 2024), Mano draugas Hipokampas Unikornas (My Friend Hippocampus Unicorn, 2024), Okeanas ir mama vėžlė (Ocean and Mother Turtle, 2025), Mažoji Lu ir konfeti (Little Lu and Confetti, 2026). She is best known for the graphic novel Sibiro haiku (Siberian Haiku, 2017), which has been translated into fifteen languages and has received numerous prestigious awards. For adult audiences, she has also created the cinematic play Nukritę iš Mėnulio. Sapnas apie Oskarą Milašių ir kitus paukščius (Fallen from the Moon: A Dream about Oskar Milašius and Other Birds, 2021), the audiobook Juoda ranka (The Black Hand, 2022), and the comics book Meko sodas (Mekas’ Garden, 2024), about Jonas Mekas. Her work was selected among the most cinematic Lithuanian works of 2025 in the competition Knyga + kinas (Book + Cinema).

Kornelija Žalpytė (b. 1998) is an illustrator and art educator who leads creative workshops in illustration, postcards, and comics, participates in group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad, and organises solo exhibitions. In 2021, she obtained a Master’s degree in Graphic Arts from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. She has worked as a designer at the publishing house Nieko rimto, created illustrations for the children’s magazine Laimiukas, and developed its visual identity through various design elements. She created the visual identity for the writer Tomas Dirgėla’s book series A komanda (The A Team). She illustrated her first book Miškas ir mažas (The Forest and the Little One, 2021). For the illustrations for Jurga Vilė’s book Mano draugas Hipokampas Unikornas (My Friend Hippocampus Unicorn, 2024), she received the Lithuanian Publishers Association Illustration of the Year award in 2025.

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