Lithuanian director Arnas Balčiūnas has a number of popular shorts under his belt, including Through Gloom (2022), which won Best International Film at Friss Hús ISFF in Hungary, 2024’s Hubble’s Law, which screened in numerous festivals, and his 2026 movie Class Photo, which screened in Cannes’ Critics’ Week this year.

A graduate of Lithuania’s KIMO National Film School, Balčiūnas is now screening his 2025 effort, Past The Hill Of Napoleon's Hat, in the 2026 edition of Karlovy Vary, as part of the EFP’s Future Frames programme. The film is a raw and powerful portrait of a family that’s brought back together after falling apart. But even with the best intentions, fractures continue to deepen in this story which hinges on silence and atmospheres. Cineuropa chatted to Balčiūnas about his film and the advantages of the short form.

Cineuropa: What inspired you to make this film, and in such a particular style?
Arnas Balčiūnas: The popularity of this theme, especially in student short films, is something I was very aware of. It’s only natural, because being a student often coincides with an age where the idea of a perfect family starts to crack; we start reevaluating our own family and our place in it. For me, it was a question of identity – trying to trace my own self back to the family I came from. There’s also an inherent tragedy in all this, that you can’t escape your upbringing or your genes, no matter how you feel about them. It was a turbulent time in my family at the time I was starting work on this film, and I couldn’t bring myself to create anything else.

The style was largely dictated by my limited access to film stock, so every frame had to be carefully calculated. I don’t feel a need for close-ups in my films, because I feel wide shots can convey just as much, if not more feeling, so focusing on them didn’t feel like a sacrifice. This ties into my outlook on short films – I’d watched a ton them for a festival that year and was tired of long and dramatic short films. That’s why I tried to be economical in my storytelling and not bite off more than the film could chew in its runtime. You might argue this approach makes the film mechanical, in a certain respect, but I think it fits well with the theme of cold family relationships. Family arguments can be very melodramatic, but most of the time they’re boiling somewhere beneath the surface, and it’s the not-addressing-it part which makes it worse.

How did the casting process go?
In a sense, I was in a win-win situation as a director when it came to casting for this film: if the actors had natural chemistry, that would’ve been wonderful; if the actors hated each other, that would’ve been even better. What I was mostly looking for was an understanding of that state of being. Physical similarity was something I was thinking about too. For example, if there are siblings in a film whose features are biologically impossible, I can’t stop thinking about it.

You’ve made quite a few shorts over the past few years. What it is about this particular medium that inspires you?
One of the great things about short films is how relatively quickly they can be made, as well as the fact that they’re a fertile breeding ground for storytelling and style experimentation, which wouldn’t have been possible with a longer format. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to make a handful of shorts, each with their own lessons.

I love the impressionistic nature of short films. Open-endedness is almost ingrained into the format itself. It’s not an easy task, but I appreciate it when shorts touch upon a subject to just the right extent, and in a way that leaves you thinking about that subject long afterwards, despite the film’s short runtime. There’s also, I think, less expectation around what a short can be, so sometimes you end up with a big surprise which leaves you rethinking what filmmaking can achieve as a medium.

I also like the fact that, as a filmmaker, you can dream up a short film while in the shower, or while watching a boring film. Obviously, it’s not that simple or easy, but shorts don’t require as much discipline as feature films. A lot of the time, it feels like you’re simply indulging in day-dreams.

Can you tell us about some of your forthcoming projects?
I have a new short film called Class Photo, which had its premiere in Cannes’ Critics’ Week this year. I’m really excited that it’s starting its festival journey soon. I’m in no rush to abandon the short form just yet; in fact, I’ll be developing another one this year.