Defense of the artistic research project “The Phenomenon of Post-Truth in Film and Theatre: Creative Strategies”

On December 16-17, 2020, the defense of Živilė Elena Mičiulytė’s “The Phenomenon of Post-Truth in Film and Theatre: Creative Strategies” will take place at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Artistic Supervisors: Prof. Janina Lapinskaitė, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ramunė Balevičiūtė. Research consultant: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Renata Šukaitytė. Copies of the research paper and its summary are available at the library of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (Gedimino pr. 42).

Online events. For participating please register until December 14 by the e-mail: daiva.buivydiene@lmta.lt.

Defense of the artistic part
December 16, 2020, 5 p.m.

PROGRAM

Performance “Paskutinį kartą atnaujinta” (2017, Klaipėda Youth Theatre) / Director and co-author of the play – Živilė Mičiulytė
Documentary “Tiriamieji žurnalistai” (“Film Jam”, premiere in 2021) / Director – Živilė Mičiulytė

Defense of the research part
December 17, 2020, 10 a.m.

Chairperson of the doctoral thesis defence board:
Prof. Ramūnas Greičius (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Members of the board:
Prof. Arūnas Matelis (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)
Sergei Loznitsa (internationally recognised artist)
Prof. Dr. Aušra Martišiūtė-Linartienė (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nerijus Čepulis (Kaunas University of Technology)

Rewievers:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nerijus Milerius(Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lina Kaminskaitė-Jančorienė (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Abstract

Today, the phenomenon of post-truth is widely recognised in the social, political and communication contexts, signalling circumstances where a society tends to believe emotionally charged statements, rather than objectively rendered facts; where people increasingly lean towards alternative facts, especially if they agree with the arguments expressed in these facts, while the arguments that are objective, confirmed and rational – yet do not fit their worldview – are a lot less acceptable. This changing social situation inevitably influences various artistic practices, including the research objects of this thesis: theatre and documentary film. One of the main aims of art has always been to reflect the world that surrounds it. The works of theatre and documentary reflecting on a progressively deepening crisis of truth – the post-truth phenomenon – is no exception. Research object – a multifaceted manifestation of the post-truth phenomenon in the works of theatre and documentary film. This research object is divided into smaller creative strategies of theatre and documentary film that reveal the critical approach of artists towards the post-truth situation, warning about possible dangers and threats of the post-truth era, and that also echo the needs and expectations of the audience living in the post-truth society. These creative strategies are determined whilst analysing the work of other directors and the creative practical process undertaken for this artistic research project – the aforementioned performance (“Last Updated”, 2017) and documentary film (“Investigative journalists”, 2021, forthcoming).