Land of Glass

Colour, 35 mm
Lithuania, 2004, 68 min
IP – International premiere
Section: East of the West - competitive

Synopsis

A woman lives with her seven-year-old daughter and newborn son in an isolated house in the middle of a mournful landscape; it seems as if  winter has encased everything in a bluish, glasslike shell. The nervous creature is beset with ever-more tormenting anxiety and fear, unaffected even by walks in nature. Her husband doesn’t get home till late, the baby is sick, and she worries about his welfare until she is absolutely frantic. No wellspring of understanding, her husband suspects her of exaggerating her mental breakdown, and he is unwilling to admit that even his daughter’s behaviour has altered. Something ominous is infiltrating the atmosphere of their home....

About the director

Janina Lapinskaite (b. 1953, Šilauliaim, Lithuania) studied film direction at the Music Academy in 1970-75 and then began working in television. She debuted with a short film, This Is My Destiny (Tai mano likimas, 1994), then followed it up with other shorts, including From the Life of the Ants (Is skruzdeliu gyvenino, 1995), which won a prize at the art documentary festival in Monte Carlo. From the Life of Elves (Is elfu gyvenimo, 1996) was honoured with the Special Prize at Prix Europa in Berlin and with the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. Her other films, From the Life of Lambs (Is avineliu gyvenimo, 1998), Magic of Travels (Kelioniu magija, 1999) and An Act (Aktas, 2000), were also well-received at various festivals. The director’s first feature, Venecius Life and Death of Caesar (Venecijaus gyvenimas ir Cezario myrtis), appeared in 2002 and took awards in Perm (Russia), Portugal and Riga.