We Will Riot

By: Amos Lassen

I doubt many of us ever think about Lithuania-I know I didn't before I saw this film. Now I really have to sit down and give the country some thought. Luke is a DJ in New York City. His father is Lithuanian and his mother, African-American. He comes from a family of means. One day he hears from his Lithuanian grandmother from whom he has been estranged and then defies his parents and goes to Lithuania to see her. He lands in Vilnius and immediately falls in love with the city and a local girl named Marta. He also loves the music scene there, a group known as the Beatmakers who are promoted by a very aggressive gay guy named Andy. Using his grandmother's connections, he manages to seal a deal with the municipality to open a new club but unfortunately the deal is not a good one and Luke is to rebel.

There is the germ of an idea here but something happened on the way to Vilnius. Everything about the film is way too Lithuanian which will probably hurt any international marketing for this film. I became immediately aware of the racism, the homophobia and the corruption that exists there. Director Romas Zabarauskas is very brave to take on these problems on film and we can only hope that his steps will have an effect in his country. He gives us a very sad look at Lithuania and after watching this film; I did a little research and discovered that what he says here is true. He gives us an entertaining look at the social and political aspects of the country that do not go along with the way we live here in America. The main characters are straight but there is a gay subplot ands homoeroticism. The director himself has spoken out for gay rights and we see that in an earlier short film that he made, "Porno Melodrama".