CLASSROOM RESOURCES
Film
Here is a list of insightful films about Lithuanian history and the Soviet experience:
The Singing Revolution (2006 Documentary)(unrated)
This documentary tells the story of Estonian independence and shows how singing, national culture, and mass nonviolent action became tools of resistance to Soviet occupation.
Link to Film on IMDB
Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (2024 Documentary)(TV-14)
Episodes 6 & 7 of the nine-part series documentary focuses on 1989 anti-communist independence movements in Eastern Europe and Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Link to Film on IMDB
Mr. Landsbergis (2021 Documentary)(unrated)
A documentary about Lithuania during the years 1989-1991, when the country broke away from the Soviet Union. The film includes archival historical footage with Vytautas Landsbergis’ insights.
Link to Film on IMDB
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR (2008 Documentary)(unrated)
Infamous experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas recorded news broadcasts reporting on Lithuania’s independence movement during 1988-1991 to document events. This nearly five-hour collection provides news about Lithuania as it happened, providing insights into the various perspectives on events.
Link to Film on IMDB
The Jump (2020 Documentary)(13+)
In 1970, Lithuanian sailor Simas Kudirka made a desperate leap for freedom from his Soviet vessel to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, but the Americans sent him back – inciting one of the Cold War’s most complex and suspenseful political blunders.
Link to Film on IMDB
The Invisible Front (2014 Documentary)(13+)
When Russia occupied Lithuania after WWII, a section of the population refused to submit to the communists’ rule of fear. This resistance force played a game of cat-and-mouse with the Russians in the Lithuanian countryside for years, costing many their lives. With testimonials from survivors on both sides of the conflict, The Invisible Front tells their extraordinary story.
Link to Film on IMDB
Ashes in the Snow (2018 Historical Fiction)(16+)
During WWII, a 16-year-old aspiring artist, Lina, and her family are deported to Siberia amidst Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region. One girl’s passion for art and her never-ending hope will break the silences of history. (Based on the bestselling YA book by Ruta Šepetys.)
Link to Film on IMDB
The Other Dream Team (2012 Documentary)
The incredible story of the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team, whose athletes struggled under Soviet rule, became symbols of the Lithuanian independence movement, and – with help from the Grateful Dead – triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics.
Link to Film on IMDB
Chernoybl (HBO 2019 Historical Fiction)(TV-MA)
The five-part mini-series dramatizes the story of the 1986 nuclear accident in the Soviet Union, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history. The show depicts the scale of Mikhail Gorbachev’s government’s lies to cover up the accident, and the human cost as collateral.
Link to Film on IMDB
Age of Delirium (2014 Documentary)
Tells the story of the Soviet Union’s fall as lived and experienced by the Soviet people. The film describes the Brezhnev era and the influence of Gorbachev and perestroika. It concludes with the events of 1991: the massacre at the Vilnius TV Tower, the mass protests in Moscow, and the August 1991 Coup, all of which led to the December 25, 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Link to Film on IMDB
Mr. Jones (2019 Historical Fiction)(18+)
In 1933, a journalist travels to Moscow to uncover the truth about Stalin’s Soviet propaganda that pushes their “utopia” to the Western world. When he gets the tip that could expose an international conspiracy- the cover-up of the Soviet atrocities in Ukraine- the purposeful starvation of civilians- Jones’ life and the lives of informants are at stake.
Link to Film on IMDB