Borderline
Rising star Šarūnas Zenkevičius shines in the shadow of the most terrifying villain in recent Lithuanian thrillers.
A raw, gritty, and riveting modern western unfolds in the secluded backwaters of Rusnė, near the country’s border, where everyone knows each other but no one can be trusted. It’s God’s forsaken no-man’s land. People don’t just drown themselves there.
Mourning ornithologist Vilius owes money to the bank, guards birds from poachers’ nets, monitors migration, and cares for his mentally vulnerable daughter, Urtė. When a staged accident disrupts his bleak routine, Vilius is forced into the shadowy world of smuggling illegal contraband.
Nightmarishly merciless local boss Vanda (mesmerisingly played by newcomer femme fatale Danguolė Beinarytė) drags his miserable life into a spiral of manipulation, blackmail, and physical abuse. It won’t be easy to forget this menacing, charismatic woman who cruelly pulls all the strings.
The director of “The Gambler” and “Invisible” (both screened at PÖFF competitions) shot the film over two years to capture the specific wintery-autumn atmosphere. In “Borderline”, he orchestrates furious car chases and underwater sequences, pursuing unflinching authenticity to evoke the mood of unforgiving coldness and imminent danger.
Edvinas Pukšta
Ignas Jonynas (1971) is a Lithuanian director, screenwriter and actor. He studied television directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, attended seminars led by Krzysztof Zanussi in Warsaw in 1991, and did an internship at the Amsterdam Film School in 1993. He later earned a Master’s degree in Theatre Directing. His short fiction films include “Sekmadienis toks, koks yra” (“Sunday As It Is”, 2005) and “Sokantis Kirminas” (“Dancing Worm”, 2006) – the latter won the Audience Award at the Circuito Off Venice International Short Film Festival and Best Photography at the Lucania Film Festival. His first full-length feature film “Lošėjas” (“The Gambler”, 2013), co-written with Kristupas Sabolius, premiered in competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It won multiple awards including the Special Jury Prize at the Warsaw Film Festival and several Silver Crane Awards in Lithuania in 2014. In 2019, he released the film “Invisible” (“Nematoma”), which also participated in many international festivals.
Filmography:
Losejas (Mängur, PÖFF 2014), Nematoma (Nähtamatu, PÖFF 2019), Border/Wall (2025)
Award for Best Baltic Film, grant of 5000€ from Piletilevi
