18/08/2020 - A grant of over €2.5 million will support 59 projects, including the new efforts by Mantas Kvedaravičius, Vytautas V Landsbergis, Viesturs Kairišs and Sergei Loznitsa

Mantas Kvedaravičius, who has received the LFC support for both his fiction and documentary projects

The Lithuanian Film Centre (LFC) has announced its second round of funding pre-approvals for 2020, through which it will support 59 projects at various stages of production and development with a total amount of over €2.5 million. Out of the total support, €1.86 million have been earmarked for the production of 31 films, including three feature fiction films, five documentaries, five international co-productions with a Lithuanian minority producer, 16 shorts and two TV productions. The rest of the grant was split among 28 projects in development – six features, six documentaries and eleven animated films – and five projects at the scriptwriting stage.

Starting off with the Lithuanian fiction films, the three recipients are Mantas Kvedaravičius (Parthenon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mantas Kvedaravičius
film profile]) for his sophomore fiction film, Trys auksakasio sapnai (production company: Extimacy Films); also, writer-director Vytautas V Landsbergis (Hansel and Gretel) is co-directing with debutant Giedrius Tamoševičiust his upcoming feature The Poet [+see also:
trailer
interview: Giedrius Tamoševičius
film profile]; while filmmaker Vytautas Tinteris (Plastic Palace People), writes, directs and produces his sophomore feature Trapped in Lithuania.

The LFC is supporting the five minority co-production projects – two fiction films, two documentaries and one animated film – with over €230,000. Among them are Latvia’s Viesturs Kairišs (The Chronicles of Melanie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) who’s working on his new feature January (Lithuanian production company: Artbox). The other fiction film supported is the Spanish-French-Lithuanian co-production Out of Sync [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juanjo Giménez
film profile] by Catalonian filmmaker Juanjo Giménez (Čiobreliai).

Among the documentaries are the latest project from Sergei Loznitsa, The Natural History of Destruction [+see also:
film review
film profile], which is inspired by W.G. Sebald’s text “Luftkrieg und Literatur”, describing the phenomenon of mass destruction of the German civilian population and German cities by massive Allied air raids during World War II (Uljana Kim ir ko), and Mirror [+see also:
film review
film profile] by India’s documentarian Siddhant Sarin, the first co-production between Lithuania (Ultra Nominum) and India. Finally, Latvia’s Nils Skapāns will receive the LFC support for his upcoming animated film Nap (Moonmakers).

Furthermore, five feature-length documentaries will be supported with a total grant of over €330,000. The selection includes another project by Mantas Kvedaravičius, his third documentary since Mariupolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mantas Kvedaravicius
film profile], entitled Sleeping Sickness (lit: Miego liga) (Production company: Extimacy Films); also, Vytautas V Landsbergis is receiving the LFC grant for his documentary Vilutis (A propos studija). The other supported projects are Thomas. Forms of Hope by Czech filmmaker Saimir Bajo (Ketvirta versija); Vakar/Yesterday by well-known Lithuanian director Audrius Juzėnas (The Excursionist); and Kernagis by Andrius Lekavičius (360 laipsnių filmai).

Almost €390,000 were handed out to sixteen short films, of which seven are fictions, five are documentaries, two are animated and two more are interactive experiences.

Finally, taking into account both of the 2020 slates of funding (read the news), this year, the LFC is backing a total of 107 projects at the development or production stage with an amount of almost €5.2 million.