SLOW

Elena dances, contemporary style, and teaches classes; Dovydas is a sign-language interpreter. They meet when he interprets one of her dance classes for deaf children, and the attraction is immediate. They spend time together, grow closer – then Dovydas tells her he is asexual. Elena, who has never had to hide her desire, at first hears only a rejection. What follows is the attempt of two people to build a relationship for which there is no model: how close can you be, when desire does not mean the same thing to both? “Slow” by Marija Kavtaradze, a Lithuanian film from 2023, asks what desire actually is – and lets the answer come out differently with every act.

The Lithuanian director Marija Kavtaradze shot on 16mm, with handheld camera and close-ups that take touch seriously as a language; Greta Grinevičiūtė and Kęstutis Cicėnas play the couple. Co-produced with Spain and Sweden. It premiered in Sundance in January 2023 in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, where Kavtaradze won the directing award; Lithuania submitted the film for the Oscars. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2023.