Feature film
The Girl and the Echo
Paskutinė atostogų diena
Arūnas Žebriūnas · 1964
Synopsis
Vika, a dreamy little girl, spends the summer at her fisherman grandfather's by the sea; it is her last day, and her father is due to come and fetch her. She loves the sea, the mountains and the echo, talks to the rocks and refuses to mix with the local children. Romas, a boy who has arrived recently and would like to be accepted by their gang, becomes her confidant, and she shows him her secret places.
Context
Yuri Nagibin drew the screenplay from his own short story, Echo, and Jonas Gricius photographed the film, which is spoken in Russian and produced by the Lithuanian studio; it runs fifty-nine minutes. The Lithuanian encyclopedia places it in the poetic vein of Lithuanian cinema. Restored in 2019 by the Latvian company Locomotive Classics, with a soundtrack reworked by the composer Sigitas Mickis, it was released in French cinemas on 2 September 2020, distributed by ED Distribution, which had acquired another film by the director, Gražuolė, two years earlier.
Who it is for
A short, poetic film, seen from a child's height; it was released in France in 2020 in a restored print.
Prizes and reception
Silver Sail, special jury prize at Locarno in 1965, and grand prize at the Cannes international film encounters for youth the same year.