The Lithuanian premiere of “Crestone” (dir. Marnie Ellen Hertzler, 2020) will be held at Kirtimai Cultural Center yard on July 23rd 9 p.m. The film will be presented by Vitalijus Vaiper, a producer, performer and an active member of underground and hiphop music scene.

In a world that undulates between fact and fiction, digital and physical, a group of SoundCloud rappers lives a solitary, post-societal existence in the desert town of Crestone, Colorado. Once a religious and spiritual mecca for many, Crestone’s endless sand dunes, waterfalls, and dark caves act as a backdrop for images of tattooed bodies, cosplay wardrobes, and clouds of weed smoke.

Hertzler’s debut feature-length film was shot in just eight day and received very positive feedback. “Crestone” explores the often hidden aspects of collaboration and friendship as well as the human desire to persist against all odds. What does music sound like if there is no one left to repost and share it?

Marnie Ellen Hertzler is a video artist, animator, and filmmaker living and working in Baltimore, MD. Her films and animations often explore a multi-media approach to film presentation and distribution and has utilized live performance, installation, and web design to accompany her work. Her films have screened at Locarno Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, MoMA, and more. In 2018 Marnie was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Influenced by her background in both psychology and fine arts, she creates films that act as cinematic platforms for the exploration of interpersonal relationships, the technology that defines us, and the inevitable end of it all.

Dir. Marnie Ellen Hertzler
Documentary, USA, 2020, English, 73 min.

Tickets and discounts: tickets cost 3 EUR (2 EUR concessions – schoolchildren, students, seniors). Tickets can be purchased on the door and at “Tiketa” sales points in person and online.

The „Common People“ screening series aims to discuss not only the content of documentary films, but also the whole notion of documentary cinema. The series adresses questions of ethics, directorial decisions. To film or not to film? When does a director cross the line of closeness with their subject? Should documentary cinema reflect ‘reality’ or the vision of its creator? These questions and others are raised and discussed looking at films who maintain a close look at people telling their own stories: sensitive, creative, eccentric and based somewhere in the margins.

The project is curated by Karolis Žukas (Kitas Kinas) and Edvinas Grinkevičius (Kaunas Artists’ House).

Visual identity: Eglė Simonavičiūtė.

The project is financed by the Lithuanian Film Center, organised by Kaunas Artists’ House. Partners: platform “Kitas Kinas”, Kirtimai Culture Center, Kaunas Deaf Rehabilitation Centre, Vilnius Queer Festival “Kreivės”.