2026 SHOWCASE FILMS ANNOUNCED
A GOODNIGHT KISS
Opening night of the 9th Annual New York Baltic Film Festival will feature the U.S. East Coast Premiere of A Goodnight Kiss (Irena), with director Giedrė Žickytė present for a film talk and Q&A.
A Goodnight Kiss is an homage to a remarkable woman, Irena Veisaitė, and her unabating 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.
Set in Vilnius, once dubbed the Jerusalem of the North, the film crafts a nuanced portrait of Irena as a testimony to her humanity and courage to live and forgive. Following Irena’s passing later in 2020, Giedrė Žickytė found new ways to tell her story, drawing on unseen testimonies and rare archives such as clandestine photos captured inside a ghetto. Woven into the narrative is music by her lifelong friend, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who dedicated his acclaimed piano piece Für Alina to Irena as a gesture of solace, echoing Irena’s own experience of motherhood and the longing she felt for her daughter Alina during the years they were apart.
In today’s fracturing world, Irena’s wisdom may be the guiding light we need.
ULYA
Saturday evening will feature the North American Premiere of Ulya, a biopic of legendary Latvian athlete Uļjana Semjonova, with a film talk with director Viesturs Kairišs . The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and is Latvia’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
Soviet Union, Latvia, 1964. On the Paberze farm in the snowy fields in Latgale, teenager Ulya’s height is approaching two meters at an alarming rate, and does not seem to be stopping. So far she has found a safe haven in her village, where she is surrounded by her loving family and helps out with farmwork. But the question gnawing at her parents (and Ulya also) is: is there a place in the world for a giant-sized girl?
When her older sister Tatjana’s fiancé Pavel secretly sends Ulja’s class photo to Karbergs, head coach of the Latvian women’s basketball team TTT, they soon have an answer. Seeing huge potential, Karbergs whisks the girl away to capital Riga, where Ulya hopes to find taller houses and taller people. But on the basketball court, her height sticks out even more – until, with the help of her ill-mannered and foul-mouthed coach, she discovers that the best way to avoid derision is to start playing better.
With hard work comes first success. But as Ulya rises on her path towards stardom, she must deal with the painful realization that others see her as a means for their own ends, and that basketball may not help her quest for a normal life. As an important professional test approaches – the famous Leningrad Spartakiad – Ulya must face her own reality, and choose what she really wants.
OUR ERIKA
Sunday evening will feature the U.S. Premiere of Our Erika (Meie Erika), with a film talk with director German Golub.
Our Erika is a heartfelt, captivating story of Estonian track bicyclist Erika Salumäe, who fought her way from a troubled childhood in orphanages and foster homes to the highest podium level of the Olympic Games. As a child born in 1962, Salumäe struggled with an abusive home life, shattered dreams, and coaches with their own agendas—not to mention the harsh and dehumanizing sports system of the former Soviet Union. Despite this, she went on to smash world records and rack up numerous medals, culminating in an ultimate win: the first Olympic gold medal for Estonia in 56 years after the country regained independence in 1991. Directed by German Golub, the recipient of the coveted Student Academy Award, Our Erika features Karolin Jürise’s star-making performance as determined and iron-willed athlete, and shows how every nation needs a hero—even if that nation seldom stops to ask if there is something that the hero needs.
Showcase Screening Film Director bios:
Giedrė Žickytė (Goodnight Kiss) is a European Film Academy (EFA) nominated film director and producer, and the recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts. Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, she founded the documentary film production company MOONMAKERS. She has directed and produced award-winning documentaries, including The Jump (NYBFF 2021), Lithuania’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. She also produced Iryna Tsilyk’s Sundance-winning The Earth is Blue as an Orange. Giedrė is an alumna of the Berlinale Talent Campus, CPH LAB, EURODOC, dok.incubator, and Producers on the Move at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024.
German Golub (Our Erika): Born into an Estonian-Slavic family in Pärnu, Estonia, German Golub studied Film Directing at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School. His directorial work includes the biographical sports drama Our Erika (2026), the tragicomedy At Your Service—a German co-production supported by Creative Europe MEDIA—and the Student Academy Award-winning short film My Dear Corpses.
Viesturs Kairišs (Ulya) is a Latvian film, theater and opera director, whose latter work has been recognized in Latvia and Germany. Viesturs Kairišs' films and performances have been shown at many European festivals. His film January won the International Narrative Competition at Tribeca 2022.