The Jump
2020 • 83’ • Lithuania / Latvia / France
It’s Thanksgiving Day, 1970, the Atlantic Ocean. A US patrol boat meets a Soviet fishing vessel. A Soviet sailor jumps across the icy water onto the American boat in a frantic bid for freedom. To his horror, and to the outcry of the world media, the Americans return him to the Soviets. Through rare archival footage and a dramatic, first-person re-enactment by the would-be defector, 86-year-old Simas Kudirka, we relive one of the most unpredictable Cold War muddles.
Director / Producer:
Giedre Zickyte
Producers:
Daniel Chalfen, Uldis Cekulis, Catherine Simeon
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Best Documentary Award Winner
— Warsaw International Film Festival 2020Special Jury Award Winner
Audience Award Winner
— Salem Film Festival 2021Herz Frank Best Director Winner
— ArtDoc Fest 2021Audience Award Winner
— DOCVILLE International Film Festival 2021Grand Prix
— EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF) 2021Audience Award
— Port Jefferson Film Festival 2021
Special Mention
—Budapest International Film FestivalRome Film Festival 2020
DOC NYC 2020
Ji.hlava 2020
Nordic Film Days Lübeck 2020
Tallinn Black Nights 2020
Revelation Film Festival Perth 2020
Art Doc Fest Russia 2020
FIPADOC 2021
DocPoint Helsinki 2021
Durango Independent Film Festival 2021
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2021
Port Jefferson Documentary Film Series 2021
Sarasota Film Festival 2021
Docs Barcelona 2021
DocEdge 2021
DocVille 2021
Nantucket Film Festival 2021
Lubuskie Film Summer 2021
Northern Lights Film Festival Belarus 2021
Farad Documentary Film Festival 2021
Baltic Film Days Munich 2021
European Film Festival South Africa 2021
Baltic Film Days Oslo 2021
Baltic Film Festival NY 2021
East by Southeast Film Festival Copenhagen 2021
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2022
Budapest International Documentary Film Festival 2022
Boston Baltic Film Festival 2022
Chicago European Union Film Festival 2022
EU Film Festival 2022
Baltic Film Days 2022
Faito DOC Festival 2022
Lost Weekend Film Festival 2022 -
“The story is brilliantly told and rich in surprises, and The Jump is surely one of this year’s unmissable non-fiction titles.”
— Cineuropa“Genuinely entertaining.”
“One of the best stories churned out by the cold war.”
— It's Just Movies“Žickytė’s documentary is an elegantly shot and edited portrait of Kudirka...The story is brilliantly told and rich in surprises, and The Jump is surely one of this year’s unmissable non-fiction titles.”
— Cineuropa“Darkly ebullient... kind of a Werner Herzog character — odd, endearing, and gamely enduring the absurdities of life.”
— The Boston Globe“The lively nature of the film’s protagonist and his extraordinary life story is The Jump’s greatest asset, making it a respectful and inspirational piece of documentary cinema.”
— Ubiquariuan
Filmmaker’s Biography
GIEDRĖ ŽICKYTĖ is an EFA (European Film Academy) nominated film director and producer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the founder of the production company MOONMAKERS. Giedrė graduated with a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from Vilnius Art Academy in 2007 and since 2010 started working in the international field of documentary cinema. Her films have been selected at numerous international film festivals including IDFA, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, Visions du Réel (Sesterce d’or Fondation Goblet Award), Rotterdam IFF, Warsaw FF (Best Documentary Feature Award), etc., and won over 30 international and national awards. Her films have been widely theatrically distributed and broadcast on television internationally. Filmography: THE JUMP (2020); I’M NOT FROM HERE (2016); MASTER AND TATYANA (2014); HOW WE PLAYED THE REVOLUTION (2011).