survival, 2009

“Survival”, 2009, single-channel video, 15 min

“Survival” is a video which rises a number of issues concerning the crises, both economic and spiritual that comes about to make one reassess the priorities in life. Two women – both by the name of Nijole – are being interviewed. Both of them were activists of Sajudis (Reform movement), maintaining the idea of liberalization of Lithuania. The video focuses on the reflections of the two prominent women about the possible ways for the people to overcome the difficulties that they are facing today. They refer to the different personal, historical and religious examples and portray the view of Lithuania as it used to be and as it is now.

Nijole Sadunaitė (b. 1938) – a nun, a dissident, member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group and the author of the few books about the working methods of KGB and the struggle for the rights of Catholics in Lithuania, tells about her personal experience pinpointing how she together with her fellows in resistance managed to endure the hardships of the times of oppression.

An actress Nijole Oželytė (b. 1954) – she is a mother of three daughters, a public figure and a signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania – talks about today‘s Lithuania, the loneliness of the brightest minds and the lack of self-realization. She eventually offers her personal assistance in the process of spiritual development, in case, of cause, there is a request and a possibility to practice it.