Uku Ukai

Colour, 35 mm
Lithuania, 2006, 30 min
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

“Sorrow does not come merely from contemplating death, which forces us to look into Eternity, but also from life, which compels us to confront Time”, wrote Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyayev. Renowned Lithuanian documentarist Audrius Stonys took these words as a motto for his latest film, a meditative visual essay which portrays old people undertaking all kinds of activities, meditation and group laughter therapy. Without a single word of commentary, he creates from sophisticated, aesthetic images a compelling study of human corporeality which, in an ideal union with spiritual equilibrium, can sustain us with the pledge that old age doesn’t have to be a painful wait for the last breath.

About the director

Audrius Stonys (b. 1966, Vilnius) studied television and film direction at the Vilnius Conservatoire. As an independent filmmaker and producer, he has made several highly acclaimed documentaries for various studios. The films Flying over the Blue Field (1996), Harbour (1998), Fedia. Three Minutes After the Big Bang (2000) and Alone (2001) were screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF.