Cinema of Lithuania
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| Cinema of Lithuania | |
|---|---|
 Romuva Cinema, the oldest still operational movie theater in Lithuania | |
| No. of screens | 95 (2011)[1] |
| • Per capita | 3.4 per 100,000 (2011)[1] |
| Main distributors | 46.0% Forum Cinemas 45.0% 5.0%[2] |
| Produced feature films (2017)[3] | |
| Total | 41 |
| Fictional | 29 |
| Animated | 7 |
| Documentary | 5 |
| Number of admissions (2017)[4] | |
| Total | 4.060.159 |
| • Per capita | 1,44 |
| National films | 21,47% |
| Gross box office (2017)[6] | |
| Total | EUR 20.4 million[5] |
The birth of the cinema of Lithuania was in 1909.[7]
History[]
First Republic. 1918-1940[]
On 28 July 1896, Thomas Edison live photography session was held in the Concerts Hall of the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University. After a year, similar American movies were available with the addition of special phonograph records that also provided sound. First cinema theatres opened in 1906 in Lithuania. In 1909, Lithuanian cinema pioneers and Ladislas Starevich released their first movies. Soon the Račiūnas' recordings of Lithuania's views became very popular among the Lithuanian Americans abroad. In 1925, Pranas Valuskis filmed movie Naktis Lietuvoje (Night in Lithuania) about Lithuanian book smugglers that left first bright Lithuanian footprint in Hollywood.
The first short films in 1909 where shot by who filmed the sights of his native village and Vladislav Starevich who made a short film Prie Nemuno (By the Nieman River, 1909)[8] The first Lithuanian newsreel screened in cinemas in 1921 was made by .
The first film production companies and first films schools were founded in 1926. In 1927 a short film (Caring Father) was produced by . Lithuania's most important film directors during the era were and . Kareivis – Lietuvos gynėjas () (1928) and a feature film (1931) produced by a film company Akis, are the most notable films of the era.
In 1927 first documentnary films were created in Lithuania - Prezidentas Suvalkijoje (President in Suvalkija) ir Nemunu į Klaipėdos uostą (Down the River Nemunas to the Port of Klaipėda) by G. Jankauskas.
In 1931 first Lithuanian film critics journal Kino naujienos (Cinema news) established.[9]
Documentary movie chronicles were created by Stepas Uzdonas, Stasys Vainalavičius, Antanas Uibas, Alfonsas Žibas, Kazys Lukšys and others.
The most significant and mature Lithuanian American movie of the time Aukso žąsis (Golden goose) was created in 1965 by that featured motifs from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
Period of occupation. 1940 - 1990[]
After the Soviet takeover in 1940 the was founded, in 1962 it was renamed the Lithuanian Film Studio.
The first Soviet era feature film "Marytė" using Lithuanian composer and actors was produced by Mosfilm. Until 1956 all Lithuanian feature films were made in cooperation with other motion-picture studios in Soviet Union focusing on Communist themes.
After the death of Stalin in 1953 a more liberal period in Soviet Union's cultural policies followed. Filmmakers started to enjoy greater artistic control at the same time the Soviet State Committee for Cinematography (Goskino) in Moscow provided the money, state censorship body Glavlit and CPSU Department of Culture had the control over releasing the movies.[7]
In 1957, the post-Stalinist era Lithuanian feature film (The Blue Horizon) was directed by . In 1968 - Feelings (Lithuanian: Jausmai) a Lithuanian drama film was directed by Algirdas Dausa and Almantas Grikevičius. In 1997, spectators and critics recognized it the best film in Lithuania.
Film directors Gytis Lukšas, Henrikas Šablevičius, Arūnas Žebriūnas, Raimondas Vabalas were able to overcome the obstacles of censorship and create valuable films.
In the late 1980s an independent Lithuanian national cinema industry was reborn during social and political reforms in the Soviet Union. The first independent film production studio Kinema was founded by the director Šarūnas Bartas in 1987. Another notable documentary filmmaker emerged during the era is Arūnas Matelis.
Due to Soviet occupation Jonas Mekas was forced to leave Lithuania. In New York he created Anthology Film Archives and together with his brother Adolfas Mekas, he founded Film Culture.
Second Republic. Since 1990 till present[]
After Lithuania regained independence on March 11, 1990 the state funding of filmmaking drastically decreased and smaller studios emerged instead. During the era about 10 documentaries and 2 feature films have been made yearly. The most notable directors have been Vytautas Žalakevičius, the director of (The Beast Emerging from the Sea) (1992), and Algimantas Puipa the winner of the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Lübeck Nordic Film Days and the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Rouen Nordic Film Festival for (A Wolf Teeth Necklace) (1997).
After the restoration of the independence, Šarūnas Bartas, Audrius Stonys, Arūnas Matelis, Audrius Juzėnas, Algimantas Puipa, , Dijana and her husband Kornelijus Matuzevičius received success in international movie festivals.[10] A documentary film by Arūnas Matelis Wonderful Losers: A Different World has been shown in numerous film festivals in Europe and Asia and recognized with multiple awards.[11]
The most internationally known film director of Lithuanian descent born in Chicago, Illinois, United States is Robert Zemeckis[12]
In 2011 Vilnius Film Cluster was established. Vilnius Film Cluster is an alliance which unites 31 leading audiovisual company and one of the largest universities in Lithuania. Vilnius Film Cluster basis was used for Netflix anf HBO TV serials production.[13]
In January 2014 Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive came into effect as a new policy measure to foster local and foreign film production in Lithuania.[14] In 2016 the Lithuanian Film Centre issued 29 certificates representing a total of 1,850,646 EUR rebates.[15] The tax incentive was increased from 20% to 30% in 2019.[16]
Lithuanian film industry experiencing a renaissance over the last decade. The audience for Lithuanian films has reached 23% in 2015, compared with 2.48% in 2012.[17] 21 national films were premiered in 2018. In 2018, 54 new films of various lengths and genres were created, 28 of them were feature films most of them supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre.[18] In 2018, Lithuanian films had 27,9 percent of the domestic market share.[19]
Lithuania has hosted numerous major international productions in recent years, including HBO's Chernobyl, HBO´s Beforeigners , Catherine the Great, BBC's War and Peace, Netflix's Tokyo Trial, Stranger Things 4th season, Young Wallander, Clark[20][21][22] TVNorge's The Oil Fund, Swedish TV series Hamilton,[23] Danish film Erna i krig, a film by Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland Out Stealing Horses[24] and many more.[25] Sometimes 5 to 6 different international crews executing filming in Lithuania at the same time. [26]
Actors[]
- Regimantas Adomaitis
- Donatas Banionis
- Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė (Seven Years in Tibet)
- Aurelija Mikušauskaitė
- Antanas Škėma
- Aistė Diržiūtė
Actors of Lithuanian descent:
- Laurence Harvey
- Charles Bronson
- Jacques Sernas
- George Mikell
- Ruta Lee
- Jason Sudeikis
Directors[]
- Arūnas Matelis
- Šarūnas Bartas
- Artūras Barysas
- Romas Lileikis
- Adolfas Mekas
- Jonas Mekas
- Algimantas Puipa
- Emilija Škarnulytė
- Jonas Vaitkus
- Vytautas Žalakevičius
Awards[]
- Sidabrinė gervė (Silver Crane)
Festivals[]
Acclaimed Lithuanian films[]
Occupied Lithuania (1940–1990)[]
| Title | Translation | Year | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Žydrasis horizontas | The Blue Horizon | 1957 | |
| Adomas nori būti žmogumi | Adam Wants to Be a Man | 1959 | |
| Paskutinė atostogų diena | The Girl and the Echo | 1964 | |
| Niekas nenorėjo mirti | Nobody Wanted to Die | 1965 | historical drama |
| Jausmai | Feelings | 1968 | historical drama |
| Kai aš mažas buvau | When I Was a Child | 1968 | |
| Gražuolė | The Beautiful Girl | 1969 | |
| Maža išpažintis | A Small Confession | 1971 | |
| Herkus Mantas | Herkus Mantas | 1972 | historical drama |
| Velnio nuotaka | Devil's Bride | 1973 | musical |
| Perskeltas dangus | Shattered Skies | 1974 | drama |
| Sadūto Tūto | Sadūto Tūto | 1974 | drama |
| Virto ąžuolai | The Fall of Oak Trees | 1976 | drama |
| Mano vaikystės ruduo | The Autumn of My Childhood | 1977 | romantic drama |
| Riešutų duona | Walnut Bread | 1978 | tragicomedy |
| Faktas | Fact | 1981 | psychological thriller |
| Skrydis per Atlantą | The Flight Across the Atlantic | 1983 | historic documentary |
| Mano mažytė žmona | My Little Wife | 1984 | romantic drama |
| Kažkas atsitiko | Something Has Happened | 1986 | music documentary |
| Amžinoji šviesa | Eternal Light | 1987 | drama |
| Neatmenu tavo veido | I Don't Remember Your Face | 1988 |
Lithuania (1990–present)[]
| Title | Translation | Year | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trys dienos | Three Days | 1991 | |
| Vilko dantų karoliai | A Wolf Teeth Necklace | 1997 | |
| Elzė iš Gilijos | Elze's Life | 2000 | |
| Vienui vieni | Utterly Alone | 2004 | historic drama |
| Prieš parskrendant į žemę | Before Flying Back to the Earth | 2005 | documentary |
| Dievų miškas | Forest of the Gods | 2005 | historic drama |
| Zero. Alyvinė Lietuva | Zero: Lilac Lithuania | 2006 | action comedy |
| Anastasija | Anastasia | 2006 | historic drama |
| Aš esu tu | You Am I | 2006 | romantic drama |
| Nuodėmės užkalbėjimas | Whisper of Sin | 2007 | romantic drama |
| Nereikalingi žmonės | Loss | 2008 | psychological thriller |
| Zero II | Zero II | 2010 | action comedy |
| Atsisveikinimas (laimingo žmogaus istorija) | Farewell | 2010 | drama |
| Tadas Blinda. Pradžia | Tadas Blinda: The Beginning | 2011 | action and adventure |
| Mes už... Lietuvą! | We're for... Lithuania! | 2011 | documentary |
| Aurora | Aurora | 2011 | fantasy drama |
| Kita svajonių komanda | The Other Dream Team | 2012 | documentary |
| Kaip pavogti žmoną | How to Steal a Wife | 2013 | comedy |
| Redirected. Už Lietuvą | Redirected | 2014 | action comedy |
See also[]
- Cinema of the world
- World cinema
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Statistika". www.lkc.lt. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Faktai ir statistika". www.lkc.lt. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "2017 m. filmų rodymo ataskaitos". www.lkc.lt. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Culture And Customs of the Baltic States By Kevin O'Connor
- ^ DATA CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF LITHUANIAN CINEMA Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kinas tarpukario Lietuvoje (IV): kinas spaudoje". kinfo.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ "Kino Lietuvoje istorija". sites.google.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ^ "Oct. 20, NYC Premiere 'Wonderful Losers: A Different World' by DGA Documentary Winner Arunas Matelis". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Robert Zemeckis @ enertainmentmagazine Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kino klasterio kompleksinės paslaugos padeda laimėti didelius užsakymus". www.vz.lt. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Film Tax Incentive". www.lkc.lt. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive came into effect in January 2014 as a new policy measure to foster local and foreign film production in Lithuania. It offers an opportunity to save up to 20% of the film production budget through private investment scheme. Since the introduction of the incentive there has been a rapid growth in the number of foreign film productions.
- ^ Kancerevičiūtė, Auksė. "LITHUANIA: Country Report 2016". www.filmneweurope.com. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
In 2016 the Lithuanian Film Centre issued 29 certificates representing a total of 1,850,646 EUR rebates. A total of 22 films used the incentives scheme: six national films, six coproductions and ten international. All of them spent more than 9 m EUR in Lithuania in 2016.
- ^ "Lithuanian tax incentives for film production successfully raised to 30%". en.delfi.lt. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "Lithuania's Film Renaissance". www.citypaper.lv. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "2018 was marked as the best year for Lithuanian cinema market after the restoration of independence". en.delfi.lt. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "Rudens kino ekranuose – aštuoni lietuviški filmai". www.vz.lt. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- ^ "Netflix Original Series Young Wallander Filming in Lithuania". www.lkc.lt. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Netflix's Young Wallander started filming in Seskine". en.delfi.lt. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "With New Series Clark Being Filmed in Lithuania This Country Becomes a Preferred Movie Location for Netflix". lietuva.lt. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ Kancerevičiūtė, Auksė. "Swedish TV Series Hamilton Shoots in Lithuania". www.filmneweurope.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ "Norway's Hans Petter Moland on his Berlinale contender 'Out Stealing Horses'". www.screendaily.com. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Lithuanian tax incentives for film production successfully raised to 30%". en.delfi.lt. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "Lietuvos patrauklumo kino kūrėjams fenomenas". bernardinai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
Further reading[]
- Lithuanian Cinema: Special Edition for Lithuanian Film Days in Poland 2015, Auksė Kancerevičiūtė [ed.]. Vilnius: Lithuanian Film Centre, 2015. ISBN 6099574409.
External links[]
- Cinema of Lithuania