Naujoji darbininkų klasė lietuvių kine: lošėjai, dileriai, kreatyvai
A New Working Class in Lithuanian Film: Smugglers, Dealers and Gamblers

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the representations of new ‘working class’ in contemporary Lithuanian film, typical of the cinematic imagery of the period after 2000s and rather constant throughout diverse body of work. As a rule, films of this period are populated by non-heroes and non-workers (gamblers, dealers, smugglers and the like) who operate outside the Foucauldian ‘disciplinary society’. They are typi- cal urban smuggles and urban nomads trekking from one place or community to another in quest of a new adventure or a unique sensation, easy money and noncommittal relations. They can be viewed as signifying the ‘liquid’ work, fam- ily and urban forms of the post-industrial and neoliberal society, as described by Zygmunt Bauman. These representations of new ‘workers’ are quite typical of a number of films produced by representatives of different generations of Lithuanian filmmakers, including Šarūnas Bartas, Valdas Navasaitis, Ignas Miškinis, Kristi- jonas Vildžiūnas, Kristina Buožytė, Emilis Vėlyvis and Ignas Jonynas. The present article argues that these images can be scrutinised from the point of view of a new societal and economical phenomenon which developed in the post-soviet period and which can be termed as neo-labourist condition. The new stereotype of post- soviet ‘worker’ is quite intensely exploited in both eastern and western cinematic imagery, so it can be regarded as a symptom of the process of formation of native regional identity through stereotyped representation.

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