Self-taught Lithuanian enfant terrible Emilis Vėlyvis presents an impulsively suspenseful and unpredictable thriller, which you’ll wish to watch again exposing smartly hidden clues and looking for other traces in the legacy of a bloody past.

Nobody pays attention to hanged nameless victim on a gloomy morning in a provincial Lithuanian town. Determined to catch the ruthless killer, an ambitious detective suspects a cold-blooded murder.

25th Nov, Thursday 19:00, Coca-Cola Plaza
World premiere with film quests

How was the idea for the film born and do you think the traumas of the Soviet occupation still affect today’s society?

The film was born out of observing the environment. I lived in the Soviet system long enough to understand its devastating effects. I was also greatly influenced by our state's approach to the Lustration Law, which allowed former employees of the KGB and other Soviet special services and undercover workers to confess and register with a special commission. Individuals who concealed their past associated with Soviet security services were threatened with publicity and some restrictions on their professional activities.
But „The Generation of Evil” is not about the KGB, it's about the hatred we carry in the collective consciousness and the all-encompassing sense of injustice.

The „The Generation of Evil” genre is defined as Nordic noir. It is not a common genre in Baltic cinema. Why did you make a detective?

Yes, the genre is not common in the Baltics, which is why I wanted to take it. I really like detectives and especially Scandinavian detectives, so I was happy to make it myself. I think this genre reveals all the beauty of darkness.

The film keeps the viewer in suspense until the last moment, the tension is raised to an unbearable level. What does it take to create such a script and nail the viewer to the screen?

We are writing the screenplay with my friend and co-screenwriter of all films, Jonas Banys. Both Jonas and I place very high demands on the scripts of the series and the films - others and ours also. I can’t stand the predictable plots, I hope this film has managed to avoid that, and to be sure, only the viewer will tell. We had a lot of discussion and talk while creating the script.

You are known in Lithuania and other Baltic countries as an audience director. All your previous films have gathered hundred thousands of people in cinemas. How do you feel to be selected for the Black Nights Film Festival and how do you think the festival will have an impact on the future life of the film?

I don’t attach much importance to the shiny surface of festivals. But I understand their significance for the life of the film, so I am very happy that “The Generation of Evil” will be presented at the Black Nights Film Festival, because I think that the context of the film can best be understood in the Baltic States.

Trailer