The Good Neighbour asked Gintė Regina to produce a video about herself, a self-referential artist’s studio visit where she examines her work and the inspirations behind it. Gintė invited Monika Baranauskaite to ask her some questions, in a direct inversion of their roles in Gintė’s film Monika in September (2018), in which Monika is the subject and Gintė — the voice behind the camera. In Gintė’s answers we find clues as to what draws the viewers into her lyrical, autobiographically flavoured films. Is it the painfully recognisable yet playful authenticity, or certain non-dogmatic insertions that challenge the suspension of disbelief within Gintė Regina’s films, reminding us of the artist at work and allowing us to keep a certain distance from the protagonists?
The video, titled “The Mind is A Home”, reflects Gintė’s process by playing with layers of staging and reality. It is a document of her filmography so far, an exploration of the themes in her work, and a self-reflexive positioning of the artist inside her practice, culminating in a dance scene and blurring the boundaries between art and life. For Gintė, by being an artist “in the broadest sense of the word”, you “create a world for your mind to inhabit — a place that’s always there and that you never have to leave”. This, for a maker whose life and practice are marked by a sense of constant movement, is a most precious possession.
Gintė Regina is a Lithuanian filmmaker working in-between artist film and narrative fiction. Her short films have been screened in leading cinemas and arts venues around the UK, including British Film Institute (Future Film Presents SCENE) and Whitechapel Gallery (Selected VII) in London. She has had two solo exhibitions, in 2018 at GAO, London, where Monika in September had its premiere, and in 2020 at CCA Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Her work was first shown in Lithuania in 2021, at Galerija 101 in Kaunas and as part of Videograms festival in Vilnius. Ginte is currently based between London and Vilnius.
Monika Baranauskaitė is a writer for stage and a voice actor. Her most recent projects as writer include the performance “Žiūredama viena į Kitą” (“Gazing at One Another”), shown in November 2021 at CAC in Vilnius, and “Eco Farm”, a comedic play that will premiere in 2022.