November 2025 — New Baltic Film Research

Publications 📚

Falsetti, Marco. Architecture in the Baltic States. Routledge, 2025. TOC

About

The book brings together several lectures originally presented at the international seminar Small Baltic Conversation, held in spring 2021 at Sapienza University of Rome, which have been developed into book chapters, along with additional original contributions commissioned by the editor.

Woodworth, Bradley; Davoliute, Violeta; Staliunas, Darius, editors. Ethnic Relations in the Baltic Reconsidered. Central European University Press, 2026. link

About

This collected volume offers an original perspective on the Baltic region by examining the intricate relationships between its diverse ethnic groups from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Rather than focusing solely on national narratives or comparisons of historical development, the book analyzes ethnic relations through the lenses of identity, governance, empire, and violence. The nearly constant redrawing of geographic borders and boundaries among communities during this period destabilized fixed identities, generating novel, hybrid ways of self-identification along with a hardening of oppositions. Innovative forms of coexistence came with violent, sometimes genocidal conflicts. The contributors explore topics such as evolving senses of belonging, the impact of imperial and Soviet rule, instances of cooperation and conflict, and the legacies of historical trauma. By incorporating new sources and interdisciplinary approaches, they update traditional understandings of nations and nationalism in the Baltic region and provide insights relevant to similar regions.

Ziemele, Ineta. State Continuity and Nationality: The Baltic States and Russia. Second Revised Edition, Brill, 2025. link

About

Political changes in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s led to important territorial changes and confronted decision-makers and international lawyers with complex questions relevant to State continuity and succession. The case of the Baltic States was particularly difficult since they re-emerged after half-a-century of Soviet occupation. In addition to questions on the status of new States, important issues arose with regard to the fate of nationals of the former federations, generating frantic international efforts in developing and consolidating available rules and principles on nationality in situations of territorial change. In this context, the Baltic case stood apart. It raised questions of non-recognition of consequences of their illegal occupation in international law, but that was not the way the issues were dealt with.
The book documents and examines the story of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States in 1940 and their claim to State continuity fifty years later. It brings in the issue of the obligations of Russia in this context. The book asks the question what nationality solutions had to be adopted in the region and shows the scrutiny they received from international institutions. This second edition of the book revisits decisions that were taken in the 1990s and asks whether they have withstood the test of time. The case of the Baltic States is an example of the strength of international law rules, when applied with courage, and of the risks, when too many compromises with rules and principles are accepted. Although the book is specific in its coverage, it is of general importance because it draws conclusions concerning developments in law and practice which are relevant for a better understanding and regulation of statehood and nationality in international law.

Rimaitė-Beržiūnienė, Viktorija. “The Positive Dimension of De-Sovietization: The Visuality of Post-Soviet Monuments.” Heritage, vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 2025, p. 460. doi.

Abstract

This article examines the processes of de-Sovietization of public spaces in Lithuania, focusing on the visual transformation of monuments after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While scholarship has primarily analyzed the dismantling of Soviet monuments as acts of iconoclasm, this study argues that de-Sovietization is a dual process involving both negative and positive dimensions: the removal of Soviet-era symbols and the creation of new monuments that articulate a post-Soviet national narrative. Drawing on Jacques Rancière’s framework of artistic regimes, the article explores how newly constructed or restored monuments embody the search for a new symbolic language of political and social communication. The analysis is based on qualitative content analysis of expert interviews with sculptors, architects, and artists involved in monument-making in Lithuania since 1990. Over the past three decades, more than 400 monuments have been erected in Lithuania, reflecting the tensions between continuity and rupture with Soviet monumentalism. While naturalistic monuments often avoided controversy, projects departing from realistic aesthetics—such as Regimantas Midvikis’ Exploded Bunker and Andrius Labašauskas’ Freedom Hill—became sites of conflict and public debate. By identifying the visual features of positive de-Sovietization, the article contributes to understanding how post-Soviet societies negotiate historical memory, identity, and aesthetic form in public space.

Bleiere, Daina. “The First Decade of Discotheques in Latvia (1973–1983).” Journal of Baltic Studies, Nov. 2025, pp. 1–24. doi

Abstract

The objective of this article is to document the evolution of Latvia’s discotheque movement from 1973 to 1983 in the context of the evolving Soviet youth recreational politics of late socialism. In the Soviet Union, Latvia was a pioneer in this movement. This article analyzes the development of discotheques using Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual instruments of field, habitus, and capital. Discotheques evolved in a field in the Bourdesian sense and achieved a certain degree of autonomy during the period in question. The ideological and bureaucratic demands of the authorities became increasingly stringent by the conclusion of the decade, but the autonomy of discotheques endured.

Hackmann, Jörg. “North, East or Something Else? Locating the Baltic Sea Region on the Mental Maps of Europe.” Nordiques, vol. 47, 2025. doi.

Abstract

There are various spatial and historical concepts of Northern and Eastern Europe, and – not least – of the Baltic Sea Region. Debates on mental maps have already shown that such notions are neither based solely on physical geography nor on clearly delimitated historical units. Instead, the concepts are often overlapping, and partly also contrary to each other, they are differing according to languages, and in addition changing over time. Thus, such debates about the spatial division of Europe (and beyond) emerge first of all from political, social, and cultural imaginaries. Furthermore, they are as almost every social and cultural phenomenon transnationally entangled and depend on political, social, and cultural settings as well as on epochs and perspectives. This text focuses on epistemological and political concepts connected to Baltic and Nordic spaces and their trajectories, in particular since the 19th century. It starts with the changing notions of, first, the European “North” and “East”, and, second, the “Baltic” region. In the following sections, the fluidity of “Baltic” space is presented and discussed in its relations to concepts of “Nordic” space. Furthermore, other scholarly and political or cultural notions that refer to the wider Baltic Sea region or to parts of it, as for instance Baltoscandia or North-Eastern Europe, are addressed. Main theses developed in this text are, first, that concepts of “Baltic” space do not exclusively refer to the “three Baltic States” and, second, that notions referring to “Baltic” or “Nordic” are closely intertwined in the 20th and 21st centuries. Third, in recent debates “Baltic” space – in distinction to “Norden” – is based less on the region’s cultural, social, or political homogeneity, but encompasses a focus on the issue of unity in diversity within the societies of the Baltic Sea region.

Culture Crossroads Vol. 28
This special issue brings together selected papers from the international symposium “Naming / Norming: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)”, which explored the processes of designation and qualification of ICH through a multidisciplinary lens.
Open access

Research News: Major Conference Announcement 📢

The annual Baltic Film History Conference—its tenth edition—has just concluded in Tallinn. This year’s theme, Dynamics of Change in Baltic Sea Region Cinema: Industries, Institutions, and Audiences, was hosted by the Estonian Film Museum.
The conference ended with a screening, presented within the PÖFF festival program: Cheka Commissar Miroschtschenko (1925), directed by Paul Sehnert—a world-premiere restoration of the oldest surviving Estonian fiction feature.
More information is available on the festival’s website

Call for Papers 2026

Tenth Annual Tartu Conference on East European and Eurasian Studies Global Flows and Frictions in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
10–12 June 2026, Tartu, Estonia
Keynote speaker: Dace Dzenovska
Deadline for proposal submission: 25 January 2026
Apply

NECS conference 2026 IN|VISIBLE
18-20 June 2026
Place: Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, France
Deadline: 28 January, 2026
Apply

Workshop Perestroika from below
01-03 June 2026, Kloster Seeon, Germany
01.06.2026 - 03.06.2026
Deadline for proposal submission: 15 December 2025
Apply

Conference What Makes Literature: Redefining Realism, Poetics, and Belonging
16-18 September, 2026 , Riga, Latvia
Venue: The Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia
Confirmed keynote speakers include Dirk Göttsche (University of Nottingham, Emeritus), Rosa Mucignat (King’s College London), and Riikka Rossi (University of Helsinki).
Deadline: January 12, 2026
Apply

Conference Culture Matters Here. Cultivating Creative Place-based Innovation in Non-urban Communities
11-13 May, 2026. Valmiera, Latvia
Organizers: Latvian Academy of Culture and the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra
Deadline: December 8, 2025
Apply

Baltic Connections 2026: a Conference in Social Science History
10-12 June, 2026. University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The seventh Riitta Hjerppe Lecture in Social Science History will be given by Joyce Burnette (Wabash College). Additional plenary session will be delivered by Marcelo Bucheli (University of Illinois).
Apply

Festivals and Screenings

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF
November 7-23, 2025
249 films (including Just Film) and 323 short films (PÖFF Shorts programmes) from 81 countries.
The Baltic competition program this year premieres new films by Giedrė Žickytė, Šarūnas Bartas, and Laila Pakalnina. Aistė Žegulytė, the author of the fantastic Animus Animalis (2018), brings to the festival her new film on fungi — Biodestruktoriai (Holy Destructors). More on the program’s page.
Vladimir Loginov’s film Ööäär (Edge of the Night) is part of the International competition programme. The trailer is here and it ends with fantastic-looking typography. Animator, director and artist Natalia Mirzoyan also made the poster for the film.
The winners will be announced on November 23rd.

Northern Lights Film Festival
November 3-23, 2025
Place: Vilnius, Warsaw, Tallinn, and Online
Website

European Film Festival SCANORAMA
November 6-23, 2025
Place: Vilnius
Website

Juris Podnieks’ films for free on the Filmas.lv portal as part of Patriot Week
Dates: November 11-19, 2025
5 films from Podnieks as a director, 7 as cinematographer, and 2 recent hits focusing on his figure: fiction January (2022) by Viesturs Kairišs and documentary Podnieks on Podnieks (2024) by Antra Cilinska and Anna Viduleja. Suprisingly, no subtitles are available

Litauisches Kino Goes Berlin
Dates: November 6-9, 2025
Place: Berlin
Website

Vilnius Documentary Film Festival
Dates: November 27 - December 7, 2025
Place: Vilnius, Klaipeda
Programme
For the festival, Meno Avylis restored and Lina Kaminskaite curated a special program “Pioneers: Lithuanian documentaries directed by women”

Agnieszka Rayzacher. From Forests and Swamps
Dates: until November 27
Available at Sinemateka.lt
This program is part of the Meno Avilys Sinemateka series of events curated by Ona Kotryna Dikavičiūtė and Gerda Paliušytė.

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