Cherries

The director Vytautas Katkus wrote: "Magical moments are everywhere. You just have to wait for them and notice them. It’s a bit like daydreaming, or a kind of joy, or even a reward that comes after sitting through boredom. That’s the feeling I wanted to show in the film."

Balancing between fiction and documentary, Cherries offers a subtle and finely observed portrait of a father–son relationship. The son is the film’s director, and the father is the director’s own father. Drawing on real-life dynamics while embracing a self-aware, meta-documentary approach, it gently blurs the line between lived experience and staged encounter. With a light touch and careful observation, the director creates a tender and gently ironic portrait of closeness, distance, and the difficulty of communication across generations. Shot on 16 mm, the film’s tactile, grainy texture brings viewers close to the action, creating an intimate, almost lived-in feeling.

Vytautas Katkus is one of the most promising young Baltic directors and cinematographers—Cherries was selected for the Short Film Competition in Cannes, his debut short film Community Gardens (2019) screened in the Semaine de la Critique, and The Visitor, his first feature, premiered in Karlovy Vary in 2025.

Lauma Kaudzīte
Head of RIGA IFF Short Film Programme
and SHORT RIGA Test Screenings