Karolis is Skis, Vytenis is Eyes
Duration
Year
Topics
Language
Lithuanian
40 min.
2022
disability
Karolis is a blind skier. Together with his guide Vytenis, they are training to get accepted to the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing. This would be their first competition at the Paralympics. Moreover, Lithuania would get its representatives there for the first time since 1994. And the duo accepts the challenge. Karolis is recognized as a B1 category athlete. It means that he is completely visually impaired. It also means that every second on the slope has to be described to him by Vytenis. Karolis and Vytenis are training routinely to improve their performance. However, their biggest challenge is learning to trust each other unconditionally. A tiny miscommunication on their way downhill can cause serious injury for Karolis. The team’s success depends on Karolis and Vytenis’ ability to learn to function like clockwork. In this process, the relationship between the two develops and gets challenged.
Author, Director Martyna Šulskutė
Sound Director Kata Bitowt
Creative Consultant Simon Elmes
Martyna Šulskutė
Producer, editor of documentary audio stories and photographer. She graduated from Vytautas Magnus University with a Master's degree in Social Anthropology and studied Social Sciences at Lund University, Sweden. During her studies, she obtained a qualification in Intercultural Understanding from Southern Illinois University. She has been working with the NARA team since 2018. In 2021, she completed the Ake Blomstrom Award radio documentary production training with personal mentor Simon Elmes from the BBC. She aims to enrich journalistic storytelling with environmental observation typical of the science of anthropology, exploring interviewees’ lives beyond the conventional interview. Her areas of interest include the relationship between humans and nature, ecology, communities, ethnic groups, migration and field recordings.
