Ilona Jurkonytė
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Ilona Jurkonytė
is a film and moving image researcher and curator, currently a Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Actions / UKRI Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Modern
Languages, University of St Andrews. Her work explores the intersections
of film, media, and environmental justice.
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© Ilona Jurkonytė. All Rights Reserved.
Organizing
Kaunas International Film Festival, Romuva Cinema 2009My
work in organizing cultural and educational projects typically revolves around
moving‑image practices, public engagement, and questions of social justice and
education. I chose to highlight some of the projects here.
From
2003
to 2005, I contributed to the creation of the first—and to this
day the only—online catalogue of Lithuanian cinema.1 The project was initiated
by Dainius
Makūnas, and I, together with several colleagues, helped to structure
and build the archive from the very beginning. This experience set m
e on an
independent path of studying Lithuanian cinema at a time when no academic
institution neither in Lithuania nor abroad offered formal training in the
field. It also provided valuable insight into the early days of internet archive.
Between
2007
and 2020, I initiated, co-founded, and led the Kaunas
International Film Festival, a period defined by efforts to
strengthen film culture in Lithuania: advocating for the importance of film
education in schools, introducing arthouse film distribution in the region, and
experimenting with film curatorial and distribution models.2
In
2012,
I was invited to deliver a keynote at the Locarno Film Festival’s industry
event Step In Locarno, marking the first instance of articulating publicly
the need to redraw the map of distribution territories in countries that
formerly were part of the Soviet Union.
My
involvement in CAC Cinema (2012–2014) and On & For
Production and Distribution (2018–2021)3 allowed me to explore
the specificities of moving‑image culture through practice. These projects
examined questions of exhibition space (white cube vs. black box), the
relationship between the film industry and artists’ moving‑image production,
and alternative models of distribution.
The
Public
Call for Sexual‑Violence Prevention Policies in Film‑Industry Institutions4
(May 2020 – January 2021) was a demanding yet deeply meaningful initiative.
Developed through extensive multilingual research and collective deliberation,
the call contributed to raising awareness and advocating for structural change
in the sector. I remain grateful to everyone who took part in this process in
various capacities.