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BEFORE THEY MEET

PASIENIO PAUKŠČIAI

By Vytautas PUIDOKAS

INSCRIPT - as PROD

Documentary - Completed 2021

On each side of the border between Lithuania and the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, there's an ornithologic station, researching the migration of millions of birds crossing this border region. Today both ornithologic stations make a first attempt to cross borders through a common bird research project

- Year of production
- 2021
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- BELGIUM, LITHUANIA, NORWAY, CROATIA
- Languages
- RUSSIAN, LITHUANIAN
- Duration
- 50 mn
- Director(s)
- Vytautas PUIDOKAS
- Producer(s)
- Frederik NICOLAI (OFF WORLD), Lukas TRIMONIS (INSCRIPT)
- Synopsis
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kaliningrad became a Russian exclave, completely surround- ed by the European Union. The region has a beautiful natural environment, with a long peninsula at the Baltic Sea and a huge Curonian Lagoon. Although the birds and other animals freely and intensively use this area, strict borders separate the Kaliningrad Oblast from its European neighbours. Andrey (47) is an ornithologist from Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, consecrating all his life to bird research. For the last twenty years, he has been working and living at Rybachy Biological Station, just 15 km away from the Lithuanian-Russian Federation border. Here, a group of scientists from all over Russia have been investigating bird migration since Soviet times.
  Just like the birds, Andrey wants to cross borders more open with his research. That’s why he initiated an important international project to find out what size of territory the bird perceives as his “home”. Therefore, he needs the collaboration of the Ventė ornithological station, just a few dozen kilometres away at the Lithuanian side of the border. But communication between Russia and Lithuania seems to have ceased completely after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The political tension between the two countries grows each year and the border is getting more difficult to cross. Furthermore, Lithuanian ornithologists stay very sceptical towards Russians, their intentions and their procedures. The Lithuanians constantly mention they work better, have a better system and catch a lot more birds.
  As the experiment unfolds and evolves Andrey is forced to fight the prejudices that both sides have for each other, overcome the bureaucratic apparatus of the two countries and most importantly, to gain the trust of Lithuanian ornithologists. Will the ornithologist’s relationship become sustainable enough for Andrey to reach his goal? Or is the border stronger than Andrey’s idea?