NY Baltic ’26: A Goodnight Kiss

It might sound like faint praise, but Arvo Part’s Fur Alina is widely considered one of the most frequently performed contemporary classical compositions. There are pop songs on the charts that might have sold exponentially more copies, but Fur Alina has endured and will continue to endure. Irena Veisaite inspired the composition’s sorrowful tone. She lived to see better days, surviving both the National Socialist and Communist occupations, to become one of Lithuania’s most prominent public intellectuals. Giedre Zickyte profiles the scholar, human rights activist, and theater critic in A Goodnight Kiss, which screens during the 2026 New York Baltic Film Festival.

Nobody better understood oppressive statist regimes than Veisaite. Her mother (by birth) was murdered during the Holocaust. Then, the second mother who adopted and protected Veisaite during the War was arrested and deported to a Siberian labor camp. Eventually, the courageous Stefanija Paliulyte-Ladigiene returned to Veisaite, thanks to Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization, but the long separation taught her the true nature of the Communist regime, loud and clear.

In many ways, Veisaite’s story is a story of motherhood. The love and loss of her mothers, directly shaped Veisaite’s philosophy and world view. Similarly, Veisaite spent years apart from her own daughter Alina, because the regime refused to grant her permission to travel. Her resulting motherly misery deeply touched, and inspired Part.

Veisaite is a remarkable figure, who personalizes the parallels between the Nazis and the Communists. Yet, she steadfastly argued against any form of vengeance-taking or score-settling. Unfortunately, Zickyte started production just before Veisaite’s 2020 death from Covid. Obviously, that forced a re-thinking of her approach. Nevertheless, she had a wealth of archival video and footage of perhaps the final meeting between Veisaite and Part. It is like a gathering of giants, but it takes a dark turn, when she discusses the invasion of Ukraine, prompting Part’s ominous response: “a storm is coming.”

Admittedly, Zickyte’s film starts slowly, because she belabors the opening scene, capturing a seemingly endless stream of friends and admirers wishing Veisaite a final happy birthday. It seems like the filmmaker had difficulty letting go of her limited original footage of Veisaite. However, once Zicktye starts chronicling the tragedies and triumphs of her subject’s life, the film becomes inspiring and humbling.

Obviously, Veisaite still has much to teach the world, on subjects like motherhood and totalitarianism. Zickyte’s profile does not quite have the same passion or bite as her previous doc, The Jump, but that is in large part due to its elegiac tone. Highly recommended, A Goodnight Kiss screens tomorrow night (11/5), as the opening night selection of the NY Baltic Film Festival.