Opening Night Screening: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6 pm

Director Giedre Zickyte will present a Q&A following the screening.

A Goodnight Kiss (Irena)

Director Giedrė Žickytė

89 min. Lithuania/Estonia/Bulgaria, 2025

In Lithuanian with English subtitles

North American East Coast Premiere

Q&A to follow with the director.

A Goodnight Kiss is an homage to a remarkable woman, Irena Veisaitė, and her un-abating spirit. As Irena turns 92 in 2020, birthday greetings pour in for one of Lithuania’s wisest women, much adored in its intellectual and cultural circles. The Nazi occupation cut her childhood short at just age 13, robbing her of her birth mother and imprisoning her in a ghetto. Then came another occupation, by the Soviets, which took away her “second mother,” who had saved her from the Nazis and raised her like one of her own. Yet having survived these horrors of two of the 20th-century’s most brutal totalitarian regimes, Irena came out on the other side, believing in a life free of hatred.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:

“When I met Irena—we lived in the same neighbourhood—she became my friend, even though there was a 52-year age gap between us. Like many others around her, I was inspired by her unbreakable spirit and humanity. Irena’s life, shaped by survival under both Nazi and Soviet regimes, embodied resilience and the transformative power of empathy.

I planned to tell Irena's story using an observational method—following her in the present moment, gradually revealing the full arc of her multifaceted life and the portrait of an entire era through everyday situations. Even then, Irena was worried: the growing hatred and division in today's society reminded her of the times before the Second World War.

Sadly, Irena died at the end of 2020. From then on, our conversation continued only through the archives. I started searching more deeply, and in the process, I realised Irena had quietly become a teacher to me.

This film became very personal—not only about humanity and values, but also about my own country and my city, Vilnius, once called the Jerusalem of the North. The Holocaust in Lithuania, long silenced during Soviet times, is only now being confronted by my generation.

I believe Irena’s story is more relevant than ever before. It speaks to the re-emergence of hatred and division in today’s world. While reflecting on the traumas of the 20th century, it reveals the power of humanism through one person who transcended violence and revenge, transforming them into kindness and empathy.

A Goodnight Kiss is my farewell to Irena — to a woman who profoundly touched me with her intellectual curiosity, compassion, and open-mindedness. Her light continues to guide us, urging us to carry forward her mission of understanding and humanity.”