Marius Ivaškevičius: Expulsion

◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Director – Oskaras Koršunovas ◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Supporting Actor – Marius Repšys ◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Supporting Actress – Elzė Gudavičiūtė ◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Set Designer – Gintaras Makarevičius ◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Young Artist – Ainis Storpirštis ◊ 2011 Golden Stage Cross. Best Production of National Drama – “Expulsion”

Oskaras Koršunovas: “Expulsion” deals with a very topical issue: emigration. We probably do not even grasp its scale statistically: people can only speculate about how many have left, how many have emigrated, but this situation is not analysed in the political sphere—let alone in the cultural and artistic sphere. In art, we have almost no serious analysis or considered perspective on what is happening to Lithuania and its people. Behind this are not only the interests of the nation and the state, but also broken lives and entire odysseys—whether these people will return or not… They leave their country, their homes, their families. Emigration takes many forms. Today, emigration is different, but there was a time when people went abroad with a one-way ticket, unable to speak the language and with nothing—often having been deceived… This is the situation we see in “Expulsion.” What is emigration? What lies behind this word? Many things lie behind it, one of the most important being the loss of identity. Or perhaps its discovery in another country? After all, the question of individual identity is one of the most pressing issues today. “Expulsion” reveals many possible answers and solutions to this question. Essentially, emigration is a horizontal spiritual journey “towards happiness,” often turning into a vertical journey downwards, towards unhappiness.