“Past the Hill of Napoleon’s Hat”, interview with director Arnas Balčiūnas

Lithuanian filmmaker Arnas Balčiūnas arrives at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2026 with Past the Hill of Napoleon’s Hat, one of the ten short films showcased in Future Frames, the European Film Promotion initiative that introduces Europe’s most promising young directors to the international film industry through screenings, masterclasses and networking opportunities. Rather than offering a conventional family drama, Balčiūnas builds an intimate and restrained portrait of emotional distance, where silence speaks louder than confrontation.

Set on a single early spring day, the short film follows Martynas as he picks up his father from a psychiatric hospital and drives him to visit his grandparents in rural Lithuania. Along the journey, familiar landscapes awaken memories that neither father nor son can fully articulate, exposing wounds that have remained buried across generations.

A story rooted in personal experience

The emotional core of the film originated in a conversation with the director’s own father, who once reflected on his difficult relationship with his abusive parent and the discomfort of seeing his father’s physical features reflected in himself. That confession became the foundation for a story about inherited trauma and the invisible threads connecting different generations. “There’s a lineage here of what I would see as generational trauma.” Rather than recreating his own family’s history, Balčiūnas transformed those emotions into fiction, exploring how unresolved pain can quietly shape relationships long after the original events have passed.

Choosing empathy over judgment

One of the film’s most striking qualities is its refusal to divide its characters into victims and villains. The father is fragile, emotionally distant and difficult to understand, yet the film consistently resists judging him. For Balčiūnas, the real tragedy lies elsewhere. “The saddest thing is the inability to talk about these things.” Instead of explaining every detail of the family’s past, he focuses on the present moment, observing people who continue trying, however imperfectly, to repair broken relationships. That choice allows empathy to emerge naturally, without relying on melodrama or easy resolutions.

When the landscape carries history

The Lithuanian countryside becomes an extension of the characters’ emotional state. The familiar post-Soviet houses and quiet rural spaces are not simply realistic settings, but subtle reminders that personal trauma is often inseparable from broader historical experiences. Balčiūnas explains that the emotional patterns portrayed in the film can be found in many Lithuanian families and across the post-Soviet region, where political history has left deep marks on private lives. Rather than making this connection explicit, he allows the environment itself to suggest the weight of a collective past.

Finding a voice in contemporary European cinema

Being part of Future Frames has also allowed the young director to encounter fellow emerging filmmakers at a crucial stage of their careers. He describes the programme less as an immediate professional breakthrough than as the beginning of relationships that may shape future collaborations while offering a broader perspective beyond the national context of film school. Reflecting on today’s film landscape, Balčiūnas acknowledges that young directors face increasing pressure to define a recognisable artistic identity early in their careers. With an overwhelming number of films constantly available, he believes the greatest challenge is not finding a visual style but discovering themes that genuinely belong to one’s own life and cultural background, rather than following existing trends.

Why short films remain the perfect form

Although he recently premiered another short film at the Cannes Film Festival and is already developing his next project, Balčiūnas continues to embrace the short format as the space where his storytelling feels most natural. “I also like the impressionistic nature of short films. It’s something that suits my storytelling style.” He sees short films as works that can be almost entirely imagined before production begins, allowing filmmakers to refine every choice while preserving ambiguity. Rather than offering definitive answers, they invite audiences to continue thinking after the final frame, completing the emotional journey themselves.

Plot