Rhode Island International Film Festival 2009

Red terror on the Amber Coast documents the extreme measures used by the Soviets to occupy and subdue the Baltic States during and post WWII. Deportations, confiscation of land, homes and businesses, and torture were widespread in this region during this time. In Lithuania, a third of the population was deported to the Gulag or into the Siberian Wilderness where many died. Inprisonment, torture, show trials, use of psychiatric medical practices to 'cure' resisters was common. Cultural institutions were destroyed and there was a lack of morality in the land. But many young people in Lithuania began to resist by heading into the forests where they formed military brigades. These young men and women became known as the Forest Brethren and special Soviet forces were trained to stop this resistance movement. The Lithuanian resisters were forced to dig bunkers and were literally forced underground. Although theyt were finally defeated by the Soviets, they were able to slow the Soviets down and the became the inspiration for later dissidents of the 70s and the 80s. Red Terror tells the story of these resisters, many who are elderly and tell their stories to Western audiences for the first time. Rare archival moving footage and photos from the KGB archives as well as from personal collections help illustrate this moving story of survival and eventual political triumph. This is a story about the human spirit and the will to survive. It is a story not well known in the West. It is a story that needs to be told.