In the summer of 2021, dozens, and later hundreds, of people started illegally crossing the Belarus-Lithuania border every day. As a result, Lithuania reinforced its border protection, building a metal fence and a barbed wire barrier, assigning troops to help the border guards. 

 

‘I Remember His Look: The Story of a Soldier and a Migrant’ (Atsimenu jo žvilgsnį. Istorija apie karį ir migrantą) tells the story of a volunteer soldier, Domas, who was assigned to stand guard on the Lithuania-Belarus border and enforce the push-back policy. One day, asked to help a friend of an acquaintance, Bahaa, an Iraqi-Syrian migrant, detained in a migrant camp, Domas faces the dilemma of how to continue doing his duty when he can see its consequences up close? As Domas and Bahaa grow closer, Domas wrestles with feelings of duty and guilt. It’s a story about the triumph of humanity in a geopolitical conflict and the attempt to make people on both sides of the conflict feel less pain.

 

The audio documentary was presented at the IFC Audiodocs 2022.