On November 11-19, the American audience had a chance to watch a Lithuanian film “The Jump” (dir. Giedrė Žickytė; 2020, Lithuania / Latvia / France) based on historic facts. In 1970, off the coast of Cape Cod, a Lithuanian sailor Simas Kudirka jumped from his Soviet ship onto a US Coast Guard vessel seeking asylum. Denied refuge by the American crew, Kudirka was sentenced to a Soviet labor camp for treason, sparking an international cause célèbre. As his dramatic case played out in the media reaching the highest levels of the US government, this ordinary man became a symbol for freedom-seeking refugees everywhere.
Film trailer: www.moonmakers.lt/portfolio-items/the-jump/?portfolioCats=8%2C7%2C11