On December 26, 1991, the USSR was officially dissolved, the end point of the dislocation of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and part of Central Asia. On the occasion of this thirtieth anniversary, RFI offers you a series of portraits of young people who grew up in the post-Soviet space. What are their aspirations? What do they keep from the heritage of this period? In Lithuania, Romas Zabarauskas, 31, has become an increasingly recognized filmmaker, but also an activist for the LGBT cause.
From our regional correspondent,
Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Florida and even Tel-Aviv. Despite the pandemic, Romas Zabarauskas spent the year 2021 in a plane to screen his films around the world. His latest feature film, Fall for Ali is even now available on DVD in France. The consecration for this perfect francophone. At the Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival, he celebrated a decade of cinema with a retrospective dedicated to him.
Born in 1990, Romas Zabarauskas grew up with Lithuania. ” My parents welcomed this freedom with great enthusiasm », Says the filmmaker. They take them and his brother to the theater, to exhibitions and to introduce them to contemporary art.“It was a way to celebrate this freedom and it inspired me a lot ”, Although he acknowledges that the first years of independence were a difficult and often chaotic period, especially at the economic level.
The attraction of the foreigner
If Romas Zabarauksas is now French-speaking, he owes it to the chance of the school map. At the Basanaviciaus school on which he depends, French is taught in a reinforced way. He plays in a French-speaking theater club and even performs in Lyon. This trip marked him. “I was lucky, but this is also the result of this freedom », He emphasizes. As soon as Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004, Romas knew he was going to study abroad. ” Everyone wanted to leave“ . For him, it will be a cinema license in Paris VIII and an exchange year in New York during the third year.
“ Lithuania created my career ” .By becoming independent, the country has offered him all the possibilities to develop and the young Romas knows what he owes him. So, for him, all his successes are also “Lithuanian successes” .
Thirty years after the fall of the USSR, Lithuania, with just 2.8 million inhabitants, has championed democracy. Since 2020, the Baltic Republic has been fighting, more than ever, on all fronts. The government supports the Belarusian democratic opposition, has opened a representative office in Taiwan and for the past six months has had to deal with a considerable influx of migrants on the border with Belarus.
30 years ago, Iceland recognized the independence of Lithuania and thus supported the democratic aspirations of this small country then completely unknown. Today Vilnius wants to play a similar role, which Romas Zabarauskas approves. “Democracy is about fighting and defending it, it is not given», Notes the thirty-something. However, he does not think that the independence of his country is in danger. In 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO, two key institutions ensuring its security.
Optimistic on the LGBT issue
He regrets, however, that 30 years have not been enough to advance human rights, especially those concerning the LGBT community. Getting a Lithuanian-style PACS to be voted on was on the program of the government coalition that came to power a year ago. The first bill was rejected by a few votes, the revised version is still under discussion in parliamentary committees, without a date for its plenary vote. For example, Estonia, Lithuania’s Baltic neighbor, already has a civil union open to all couples since 2014. The filmmaker remains optimistic. “People are more and more open», He observes. A few years ago, the young man posed with his companion on the cover of Lithuania’s most widely read weekly.
In recent weeks, the removal of the statue of a writer who collaborated with Soviet power has stirred up society. “If this sculpture is in the way, it must be removed. This past was brutal and destroyed society», Considers the filmmaker. But in this case, he would also like all monuments dedicated to Lithuanian heroes who turned out to have collaborated with the Nazis to also be removed from public space.
Romas Zabarauskas is currently working on his next feature film. It will be titledActivist. He is waiting for answers for his financing. Thus, he will be able to distribute his film abroad and continue to contribute to the influence of his country. As the young man points out, in Lithuania we have been staying for these years “Europeans still very optimistic“.
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