Two Events Dedicated to Lithuanian Americans

On October 10th and 14th, two exceptional cultural events were held in the National Library of Lithuania: the evening dedicated to the Lithuanian-American poet Liūna Sutema (real name Zinaida Nagytė-Katiliškienė, 1927-2013), and a documentary film about the Lithuanian Foundation, Inc. (dir. Arvydas Reneckis).

During the first event, documentary material collected by Arvydas Reneckis, the film director, was shown. The film “Liūnė Sutema: When Dates Do Not Matter” tells about the life of a woman, daughter, sister, lover, friend, mother, nurse, and poet in the United States.

The film about the Lithuanian Foundation, Inc. presents the history of the establishment of the fund, and tells what conditions prompted the representatives of the second wave of Lithuanian emigrants in America to establish a million-dollar fund for Lithuanian causes in the early 1960s. The film provides answers to such questions as, why was the establishment of the Lithuanian Foundation so important to the war-torn and tossed-up Lithuanian refugees; what led to the fact that over 60 years, the foundation has become a focal point nurturing Lithuanian culture, history and Lithuanian education, and its activities have been successfully continued from generation to generation.