“In non-commercial cinemas, audience numbers have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. This proves that going to the cinema is important to people, even though you can comfortably watch movies at home: it’s for being with others, for a common experience, and for the added value that cinemas provide. People are more demanding not just of the movie itself but also of the extras: they expect a nice environment, an introduction to the film, or something else that will deepen their experience”, says Director of Skalvija Cinema, Head of the Cinema Culture Association, and alumna of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) Vilma Levickaitė, discussing the changes of the last decade.
In the conversation, the longtime cinema manager discusses how to grow audiences and filmmakers through education, recalls the movies she loved during her study years, and highlights the skills acquired while studying art history and management at VMU that she still finds useful today.
Levickaitė, who has been managing Skalvija for almost twenty years, notes that the number of non-franchise cinemas in Lithuania has stabilized: currently, there are 7–8 of them, and this number is unlikely to increase due to financial conditions.
“We are lucky because we’re a city cinema: no matter the situation, we can rely on the municipality. As long as politicians do not decide that the cinema is unnecessary, it helps. However, we still need to think about how to compete, improve our activities, and grow. It’s hard when you have few similar colleagues: you’re a bit vulnerable and you don’t have as many opportunities for growth”, Levickaitė says, explaining the ambiguous situation of non-commercial cinemas.
According to her, cinemas have gone through bigger setbacks in the past: for instance, after Lithuania restored its independence in 1990. “We often like to associate cinema closures with certain crises. However, it was basically a global phenomenon: cinemas were closing down because VHS became widespread. Meanwhile, today, the number of cinemas is stable. That’s exactly because it has been proven there are still people who will go to the cinema, as they feel a need to watch films with others. Watching a movie is a social act too, just like attending other events”, Levickaitė emphasises.
Creating a new generation of filmgoers and filmmakers
When managing the cinema today, Levickaitė finds great value in the understanding of fundamental marketing principles that she had gained during her studies. To encourage people to go to the cinema, a need for it must be created. For non-commercial cinemas, this doesn’t mean expressive advertising; instead, it involves long and consistent growth of the audience, e.g. through educational activities. These include such initiatives as Mokausi Iš Kino (I’m Learning from the Cinema), which draws in about 16,000 schoolchildren to watch films at Skalvija every year.
“Our goal is to show diversity, that there are all kinds of movies, that they can encourage thinking and provoke conversations. We strive for young people to understand that cinema is not just entertainment that you watch and forget the next day; it is something that can educate”, Levickaitė notes.
Another project, Skalvija Film Academy, has taken on an even bigger mission: creating a new generation of filmmakers. Those who complete these courses, which serve as an introduction to film production, have all the opportunities to become cinema professionals: today, graduates of the academy include already renowned directors Marija Kavtaradzė (Slow / Tu man nieko neprimeni) and Vytautas Katkus (The Visitor / Svečias).
Art history and management provided a strong career foundation
Remembering her studies, Vilma Levickaitė explains that she did not deliberate for long before choosing Art History at Vytautas Magnus University: she was drawn to the program’s multifaceted nature.
“While I was still in school, I realized that the field I most enjoyed being in was culture. I liked attending events, going to the drama theatre and to concerts. I already felt that participating in culture gives a lot to a person. However, since I didn’t yet know in which field of culture I wanted to work, Art History studies at VMU suited me perfectly, because they encompassed the theoretical aspects of all arts”, Director of Skalvija recalls.
Instead of becoming an artist, Levickaitė realized she wanted to be a mediator between the creators and the participants of culture. Moreover, she made use of the opportunity offered by VMU to study a minor field, management in her case, alongside her main specialization.
“Intuitively, I understood that organizational management and activity planning are important in culture as well; culture operates on the same principles as business. Thus, the acquired BA in Art History and certificate in Business Management laid a strong foundation for my professional path in cinema culture: both the context of art history, culture, and artwork analysis, as well as the basics of strategic management, marketing, human resource management, and financial accounting”, the interviewee explains.
Comprehensive education is always relevant
The Head of the Cinema Culture Association recalls that even at the time, more than 25 years ago, management studies at VMU were considered among the most progressive in Lithuania: friends who had graduated from them pointed out that further studies in other universities seemed to lag behind, contrary to VMU, which introduced the latest management trends and focused on modernity.
At the same time, Levickaitė appreciates that the university continues to uphold the principles of liberal arts (artes liberales), allowing students to freely choose subjects, without being restricted by their chosen specialization, and to create their own study schedule. They can also choose from over thirty foreign languages and participate in various extracurricular activities.
“I think that comprehensive education will always be very relevant. It is an opportunity to not just acquire a very wide education but also to develop decision-making: to consciously reflect on what interests you, to make a package of topics you’re drawn to. I also took the opportunity to learn many languages – I studied French and English”, VMU alumna notes.
When she was studying at VMU, Levickaitė was most drawn to theatre rather than cinema: largely thanks to her teacher, theatrologist Vitalija Truskauskaitė, who impressed her at the time.
“Vitalija was the person who drew many people towards theatre. That’s how it goes: in a young person’s life, teachers are the ones who determine whether someone will take interest in a field, whether they will inspire with their love for the subject they are teaching”, Levickaitė says and reveals that her love of cinema came later, during further studies, when she was taught by the film critic Živilė Pipinytė.
Cinema lectures introduced Andrei Tarkovsky
Levickaitė remembers that, while she was studying at VMU in the late 1990s, cinemas in Kaunas were struggling and their programs were not very rich. Still, she was highly impressed by Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, seen at the Kanklės cinema, and Alan Parker’s Evita, seen at Senasis Trestas. Discussing the films and directors she was interested in at the time, the VMU alumna singles out Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, Peter Greenaway, and other filmmakers of intellectual and philosophical cinema. She got acquainted with many of them during the cinema lectures at VMU.
“In cinema lectures, we would discover which authors are important, and then we’d simply rent everything. I had a TV and a VHS player in my dorm room that I’d brought from home. I’d invite my friends from the dorm and we’d do film screenings. So it all started purely as a student endeavour. Later, of course, I started exploring it more deeply. To this day, I still really love Béla Tarr, may he rest in peace. His work resonates with my inner world”, Levickaitė reveals.
“Last year, I really liked Conclave and Southern Chronicles. The latter is simply a phenomenon in Lithuanian cinema, because making a good, high-quality, crowd-pleasing comedy is very difficult”, the interviewee notes, sharing her two recent favourites and adding that her other leisure activities include travelling and attending exhibitions.
At the end of the conversation, Vilma Levickaitė offered some advice to current twelfth-graders who are deciding their future: they should listen to their hearts and be active politically.
“I would encourage twelfth-graders to think about freedom and how to defend it every day, to certainly take interest in politics and parties, and to participate in elections. May their hearts tell them where their career path lies and may they listen to it. And then, may they stand their ground against others: let’s say, if the parents say that it is a bad choice. Of course, they need to listen and not immediately reject what their elders are saying. However, what matters the most is their own decision”, the Director of Skalvija emphasises.
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