Director and cinematographer Vytautas Katkus in the spotlight at Switzerland's largest short film festival

Switzerland's biggest short film event, the Winterthur International Short Film Festival, is about to start. This year's focus is on internationally acclaimed Lithuanian film director and cinematographer Vytautas Katkus. On 7-9 November, visitors to the festival will not only be treated to two special programmes of Vytautas Katkus' short films, but also to a masterclass led by this Lithuanian filmmaker.

For the special program ‘Person in Focus’, the festival's artistic director John Canciani has prepared two programmes of Katkus' short films: “The Man in the Director's Chair”, featuring five films directed by the Lithuanian filmmaker, and “The Man Behind the Camera”, featuring four of Katkus' works as a cinematographer.

In the first programme, The Man in the Director's Chair, five short films directed by Katkus are presented in chronological order: “Floor Scrapers”, “Igloo”, “Community Gardens”, “Places” and “Cherries”. According to John Canciani, the curator of the programme, the main themes that emerge in Vytautas' films are relationships and the emotions they evoke. 

The second programme, The Man Behind the Camera, features cinematographic masterpieces of Vytautas Katkus: “Reminiscence” (directed by Kristijonas Dirsė), "Techno, Mama" (directed by Saulius Baradinskas), "Nominees" (directed by Birutė Kapustinskaitė) and "Resentment" (directed by Gleb Osatinski). The prime feature of Vytautas' cinematography is the use of analogue technology. "Vytautas likes to add a touch of magical realism to his films, even when their stories and shots are realistic. This allows him to transport his audience into a world that is both familiar and unexpectedly enchanting, while also emphasizing the timeless quality of the analogue," says J. Canciani, the curator of the programme, about the creative style of Katkus.

Vytautas Katkus will also give a masterclass during the festival to share insights into his creative path and the compatibility of his specialities as a cinematographer and director in the making of short and feature films that have earned him worldwide recognition. The masterclass and a conversation with Vytautas Katkus will be moderated by Wouter Jansen, CEO of the international film distribution company Square Eyes. The Lithuanian filmmaker has also been invited to join the jury of the festival's international competition programme.

Vytautas Katkus is one of Lithuania's most talented and fastest emerging directors and cinematographers. He graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre with a bachelor's degree in cinematography and is currently studying for his master's degree. Vytautas' debut short film “Collective Gardens” (2019) was selected for the Cannes Film Festival's parallel programme Semaine de la Critique, and his second short film “Places” (2020) premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Orrizonti section. In 2022, Vytautas presented his third short film, “Cherries”, which premiered in the short film competition of the Cannes Film Festival. At the beginning of this autumn, Vytautas completed his debut feature film "The Visitor". 

The Winterthur Short Film Festival presents the works of filmmaker Vitas Katkus in collaboration with Lithuanian production company M-Films, Lithuanian short film agency "Lithuanian Shorts", and Lithuanian Film Centre.