Screening of the film Leaving (Odcházení), directed by Václav Havel

The Statehood Center of the National Library of Lithuania, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vilnius, and the Lithuanian-Czech Society invite you to a screening of Leaving (Odcházení), directed by Václav Havel himself, on 6 October at 6:00 p.m.

Leaving is significant not only as a film adaptation of Havel’s 2007 play, but also as a work directed by Havel himself. The film won Czech Lion Awards for its screenplay and editing.

For many years, Vilém Rieger served as Chancellor. Having recently left office, he finds it difficult to come to terms with the loss of his position. He tries not to reveal his despair to those around him, but his world has been turned upside down. He must move out of the state-owned villa that has become his true home, separate his personal affairs from matters of state, face the collapse of the world around him, and come to understand how little he really knew about it. Yet the film is not only about the end of a political career. More broadly, it is about endings – the end of a life, an era, and a love.

The screening is dedicated to the memory of the internationally renowned politician, dissident, playwright, and first democratically elected President of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, and commemorates the anniversary of his birth (5 October 1936).

The film will be screened in Czech with English subtitles. It will be introduced by Aigustė Vykantė Bartkutė, a translator of Czech literature.
Running time: 1 hr 34 min.