The winners of the creative initiative for young city residents were announced at the Green Capital Filmmaking Challenge awards ceremony in Vilnius. The film “Petras ir Vandenis” (Peter and Aquarius) in the under-23 category was recognised as the greenest film for conveying environmental issues and their solutions in an easy, understandable and humorous way.

In total, young creators presented 44 films – 22 films were created by schoolchildren and 22 films by young people under the age of 23. Each film reflected a different perspective on urban sustainability and the joys and problems that arise from it. These films became unique personal stories about city life, ranging from arguments with parents about sorting waste to attempts to change daily habits by giving up fast fashion or disposable cups.

“The films submitted for the challenge show just how creative and perceptive young people are. They clearly understand the ecological problems facing today’s world and can reflect them creatively. This is encouraging and gives us hope, because these qualities are very much needed in the face of today’s challenges,” says Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė, the head of the project “Vilnius – European Green Capital 2025”.

The best ideas were awarded prizes

The young creators competed in three categories: “Greenest Film”, “Most Creative Idea” and “Most Original Idea”. The film “Petras ir Vandenis” (Peter and Aquarius) won in the Greenest Film category, while the student category film “Ar jus tikrai taip lengva įtikinti?” (Is it really that easy to convince you?) received a special Green Capital mention. These creators will receive invitations to the major Lithuanian film festivals: “Scanorama 2025”, “VDFF 2025”, Vilnius Short Film Festival 2025, “Kino Pavasaris 2026” and “Nepatogus kinas 2026”.

The winners in the most creative ideas category were the authors of the films “Užkibom tai mes” (We’re Hooked) in the student group and “Siūlės ir ūsai” (Seams and Moustaches) in the under-23 group. They will receive training in experimental analogue filmmaking with Vytautas Juozėnas from Spongė Lab. The winners in the Most Original Idea category were the schoolchildren who created the film “Neišgelbėjau” (I Didn’t Save Him) and the young people under 23 with their work “AD AQUA”. These creators were awarded tickets to Free Finga concert, which will take place on 5 December at the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas, as well as other cultural entertainment for the whole team.

“The awarded films stood out for their creative exploration of the theme and their ability to create a coherent narrative and atmosphere. It was clear that a lot of time and effort had been put into the creation of these films, and that the problem had been approached on multiple levels rather than superficially. It was the depth of the films that left the greatest impression – it’s wonderful when, while watching a film, you suddenly stop noticing the direction, editing or compositional decisions, and start to experience and reflect on what is being portrayed,” says Rugilė Pranculytė, the curator of the programme “Uncomfortable Cinema” (Nepatogus kinas).

The Green Capital Filmmaking Challenge was organised by Vilnius City Municipality and “Uncomfortable Cinema” (Nepatogus kinas). The films of the participants can be viewed here.