Robert Verba

R. Verba is a film director and cinematographer, considered the pioneer of Lithuanian poetic documentary. His filmography includes more than 30 documentaries and about 100 stories for the film magazine "Tarybų Lietuva". R. Verba is considered to be part of the generation of young documentary filmmakers. These are directors who returned from the Moscow Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in the early 1960s and brought a new approach to filmmaking.

R. Verba together with writer I. Simonaitytė

Robert Verba - Bridges of Time

Until the 1960s, occupied Lithuania was dominated by propaganda, engaged documentaries that served the expectations of the Soviet government. The new generation became exceptional in looking at a person and their personal history, speaking in images, not words. A metaphorical, symbolic language was created through the play of image, editing, and sound. This was completely new in the world of Lithuanian cinema.

R. Verba's most famous and highly acclaimed films, such as "The Old Man and the Earth", "The Feeling of Ruta", and "The Centuries of Passion", immortalize the old inhabitants of Lithuania. The director's other works also often focus on the natural environment of the Lithuanian countryside and its simple, real people, who, living simple lives, could have seemed like rebels in the context of Soviet "heroes".