Giedrė Žickytė
Giedrė Žickytė (born 1980) graduated from the journalism programme at Vilnius University, completed a post-graduate course in TV and film directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and acquired a master’s degree in photography and media arts at the Vilnius Academy of Arts.
She debuted with the short feature film Vaidmuo / The Role (2004), which starred the well-known Lithuanian actor and singer Andrius Mamontovas. Since 2006, Žickytė has been creating documentary films. For her TV documentary Baras (2009), she was awarded a Silver Crane by the Lithuanian Film Academy for Best TV Film in 2009. The film is about Artūras Barysas–Baras, a filmmaker, actor, bibliophile, music collector, and leader of an avant-garde music group. Rebellious and talented artists who lived and worked in the Soviet period are often the subjects of her films. Several of her documentaries – Baras, Kaip mes žaidėme revoliuciją / How We Played the Revolution (2011) and Meistras ir Tatjana / The Master and Tatyana (2014) – explore underground culture in Soviet Lithuania and the universe of complex human emotions, aspirations, and internal experiences. How We Played the Revolution offers a unique approach to the restoration of the independence of Lithuania. The film’s story begins in 1984, the very beginning of perestroika in the USSR, when a group of architects decided to stage a one night only music performance as a New Year’s prank in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Master and Tatyana introduces the love story of Vitas Luckus, one of the most talented Lithuanian photographers of the 20th century, and his wife Tatyana. This film won four awards at the National Silver Crane 2015. Aš čia tik svečias / I’m Not From Here (2016), a poignant documentary co-directed with Maite Alberdi about old age, was nominated as Best Short Film at the European Film Academy Awards 2016.