In honor of the just-passed anniversary celebration of Lithuania’s independence on 16 Feb 1918, Darius Udrys released a 26-minute video made up of stills, titles, and music, which surveys episodes from the last 215 years of Lithuanian history. The movie, Road to Freedom: Lithuania, is also available with Lithuanian titles as Kelias į laisvę: Lietuva, but below is the English version:
Apparently including some aspects of WWII atrocities against the Jewish population has irritated some viewers, but, ultimately, that misses the point, as Udrys has put together a generally positive presentation of the history (I would certainly not call it neutral, but it’s more objective than what we are taught in lituanistinė mokykla).
There are a few goosebump moments, helped along by the soundtrack, but the best part of the video is the collection of visual elements Udrys has collected from various sources. I think pretty much 99% of interwar photographs and of urban life in the 19th century are fascinating to me. So find a half hour free and watch the presentation. Consider it a tautinė pareiga.
Tags: Basanavičius, independence, Landsbergis, maironis, Sąjūdis, Udrys, valančius
One Response to “Lithuania’s road to freedom”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Leave a Reply