According to shots’ editor Danny Edwards, it is the first Lithuanian commercial to make it onto shots: “Traditionally, Lithuanian commercials haven’t been quite creative enough to make it past shots’ pretty rigorous selection process though it’s by no means the only country to suffer from that.  This time around though, Kaunas Film Festival’s video stood out among the work that we received from the Eastern European region,” he says.  

Edwards explains that shots is read and viewed by the international advertising community while the magazine’s aim is to highlight the best work from across the globe to parts of the industry that otherwise might not see it. “We thought that the idea for the spot was a simple but very effective one,” editor of the shots points out. “We hope that by choosing this spot we have acknowledged its creative excellence and we pride ourselves on our editorial decision making.” 

Kaunas Film Festival's director Ilona Jurkonytė says she is not surprised by the fact that the commercial produced by the festival’s partners Not Perfect Y&R and Dansu made it among the best commercials of the world: “We appreciate the collaboration between our team and the advertising professionals, and we are fascinated by the work they did for the festival. We are very happy about our creative cooperation and the gains in brings for both the festival and the producers of the commercial.” The concept of the Kaunas Film Festival advertising company was created by Antonio Bechtle, the copywriter of the advertising company Not Perfect Y&R. “Basically, I was thinking about communicating what Kaunas Film Festival really is, and how to show its uniqueness using simple methods. I remembered something that I learned in my old days as a Literature student: “A good piece of art is the one that can put a light in the dark places of the human essence,” Bechtle explains. “When I was trying to think of a way of showing that we look for light in the darkness, I noticed that when we are waiting for enlightenment, looking for an answer or concentrating to remember something, we close our eyes: we enter darkness to find the light. The rest was just showing that on screen.” 

The commercial’s director Ernestas Jankauskas said he was intrigued by Bechtle’s idea. “Our task was to convey it using very simple means, so people could easily understand and accept it. We did not want to show anything that was not real. This allowed us to create a warm and real story about how people close their eyes to find answers to their questions. And the answers are there, in the Kaunas International Film Festival,” the director remembers the creative process. “I am happy that the organisers of the festival put their trust in us – we had a complete freedom in making our decisions.” The soundtrack of the 2009 festival’s commercial was created by the singer and songwriter Alina Orlova. 

Magazine shots published in the UK and read by advertising professionals all over the world (www.shots.net) was established in 1990. It is one of the leading global advertising industry magazines providing ideas and inspiration to copywriters all over the world. It is also one of the most important industry’s sources of information. Published as a magazine and as a DVD, shots selects only the most creative works: pioneering TV commercials, music videos and shorts. shots website features a daily updated archive of creative works, which contains more than 6,000 productions. 

Each autumn, Kaunas International Film Festival presents a diverse international programme of art-house films in Kaunas. Some portions of the programme are also screened in other Lithuanian cities. It is the only Lithuanian film event of such scale centred outside the capital of Lithuania. 

Commercial of Kaunas International Film Festival:

Director: Ernestas Jankauskas
Soundtrack: Alina Orlova
Agency: Not Perfect Y&R
Production house: Dansu