On August 8, from 7pm Baltic Analog Lab invites you to its annual Courtyard Festival in the organization’s yard at Lienes iela 19a, featuring film screenings and audio performances.

This year’s program includes a screening of films by members of the Lithuanian film collective Sponge Lab, some of whom will be present. The program will also feature the film “An Uncertain Eternity” by Canadian artist Ella Morton, shot in Greenland and Newfoundland.

The evening will also include audio performances – the night will be warmed up by ‘oneanders’ aka Sintija Andersone, spinning carefully selected rhythmic sound records. Later in the evening, honoring BAL’s collaboration with the Skaņu Mežs festival, we will present a tape performance by British artist Rachael Finney, taking place as part of her residency, and accompanied by analog projections by BAL members.

At the beginning of the evening, visitors will have the chance to be photographed with a large-format photo camera led by our photo master Armands Andže, and refreshments will be provided by our favorite brewery – Nurme.

Program:

19:00 Vinyl records by ‘oneanders’, large format portraits with Armands Andže, drinks by Nurme brewery

21:30 “An Uncertain Eternity” by Ella Morton

22:00 Sponge Lab (Lithuania) film program with the filmmakers present:

- The Flower Crown of Pamarys, Aleksandra Bakeryte, 2024. BW 16mm to digital

- She’s Waiting for the Sunset, Martyna Ratnik, 2024. 16mm to digital

- Granitepoints, Miki Ambrózy, 2023, 19’. 16mm to digital

- Letter to a Football Friend, Rūta Grùma, 2024. 16mm to digital

- Side Effect: You May Forget How to Swallow, Yanis Proshkinas, 2024. 16mm to digital

- Does the Sea Have a Heart?, Miglė Križinauskaitė, 2025. Super 8mm to digital

23:00 Rachael Finney sound performance in collaboration with BAL

The Nurme Brewery bar will be open during the event. We invite guests to bring their own food for the common grill (we support vegetarian options).

About the artists

Spongė Lab is an experimental film laboratory in Vilnius, initiated by filmmakers and artists Kipras Dubauskas, Vytautas Juozenas, Bon Alog, Eglė Razumaitė, and Miki Ambrózy. The lab was established in 2019 at the cultural complex SODAS 2123. Continuing the tradition of the earlier Tree Lab film lab, the idea behind Sponge Lab and its collective is to bring together artists and filmmakers who create independent films, work with analog photography, and explore film-performance within the context of contemporary art.

The film program will offer insight into the works of its members, as well as final works from last year’s educational course “Ecologies of Labour: Chasing Tale Winding.”

Ella Morton is a visual artist and filmmaker living in Tkarón:to/Toronto. Her expedition-based practice has brought her to residencies and projects across Canada, Scandinavia, Greenland and Antarctica. She uses experimental analogue processes to capture the sublime and fragile qualities of remote landscapes. She earned a BFA from Parsons School of Design (New York) and an MFA from York University (Toronto). She has exhibited her work internationally, including shows at Lonsdale Gallery (Toronto), Foley Gallery (New York), 516 Arts (Albuquerque, NM), Contemporary Calgary (Calgary), Galérie AVE (Montréal), SPAO Gallery, (Ottawa), the Turchin Center for the Arts (Boone, NC), Photographic Center Northwest (Seattle) and Hanstholm Art Space (Denmark). Her films have screened internationally, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Montreal International Documentary Festival and the Alchemy Film & Media Arts Festival, among others. Her practice has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the National Film Board of Canada and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto.

Rachael Finney is a musician, composer, artist, and researcher whose work examines histories and cultures of popular music, recording technologies, and the arrangements of sonic and musical space. Working in an interdisciplinary context her work spans audio-visual installation, electroacoustic performance, live performance, and music for recorded media.Rachael has a background in experimental music where her work makes extensive use of reel-to-reel tape. Releasing under the moniker R Elizabeth she has worked with various labels to release recordings including WhereToNow?, Nightschool records, and Kit records. Her work has been featured in publications and platforms including The Wire, Electronic Sound, The Quietus, the Vinyl Factory, and the Boiler Room.

Free admission

Supported by Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation