THE JUMP, by Giedrė Žickytė, 2020, Lithuania

In the presence of the ambassador of lithuania

Feature film

In 1970, the evening of Thanksgiving, along the American coastline, the Lithuanian marine Simas Kudirka jumps from his Soviet boat and lands on the US coast guard’s bridge in a desperate effort to get political asylum. Simas is denied refuge by the American crew and he is found guilty of treason and sent to a Soviet labor camp. His jump to search for freedom triggers a series of chaotic events, leading to the biggest political imbroglios of the Cold War. Simas, through the lens of the director Giedrė Žickytė, reflects on his incredible saga in a movie that follows the development of an ordinary man who ended up being an universal icon for immigrants seeking freedom.