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Ironically, The Dreams of the Centenarians was submitted as a feature for the centenary of Lenin’s birth. It was the simplest way to secure authorization to film old Lithuanian people (some of whom were actually a hundred years old). The filmmaker also satisfied the Soviet censors’ requirement to focus on working-class people rather than the intelligentsia – the centenarians of the film are indeed ordinary country people. Still, ideologically-minded critics of the time objected to the film’s choice of “unsightly” subjects (a transgression against the USSR’s cult of youth and fitness) and “lack of optimism.” (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)