Before Flying Back to Earth (12+)
Lithuania, 2005, colour, 52 min.
Director: Arūnas Matelis
Director: Arūnas Matelis
A gracefully expressive journey into the lives of children living with leukemia at a pediatric hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania. The children enter into an alien world, bereft of color and warmth, but populated with kind strangers. Their new toys are invented out of stainless steel, and new friendships are formed in the crucible of the cancer ward.
AWARDS
Best Lithuanian Film 2005 by Lithuanian Filmmakers Union; IDFA 2005 – Silver Wolf; International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film 2005 - Golden Dove; Documenta Madrid 2005 – Main Prize; Nominated for the European Film Academy Best Documentary Award of 2005; Submitted for the 79th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2006; Best Director award in Documentary Feature category at the Directors Guild of America Awards 2006; Brooklyn International Film Festival 2006 - Spirit Award for Documentary; Pärnu International Film Festival 2006 - Grand prix; Silverdocs 2006 – Special Jury Mention; ZagrebDox 2006 – Big Stamp (Best Film, International Competition).
Arūnas Matelis
Arūnas Matelis
In 1992, after studying Mathematics at Vilnius University and graduating from Music and Theatre Academy, Arūnas Matelis established one of the first independent film production companies in Lithuania named studio "Nominum". Documentaries internationally co-produced by the studio have been awarded in many renowned film festivals as well as successfully broadcast in various countries.
FILMOGRAPHY
«Giants of Pelesa», 1989; «Baltic way», 1989; « Ten minutes before the flight of Icarus», 1991; «Self-portrait», 1993; «From unfinished tales of Jerusalem», 1996; «First farewell to Paradise», 1998; «The diary of forced emigration», 1999; «Flight over Lithuania or 510 seconds of silence», 2000; «Sunday», 2003; «Before Flying Back to the Earth», 2005.
Lithuania, 2005, colour, 52 min.
Director: Arūnas Matelis
Director: Arūnas Matelis
A gracefully expressive journey into the lives of children living with leukemia at a pediatric hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania. The children enter into an alien world, bereft of color and warmth, but populated with kind strangers. Their new toys are invented out of stainless steel, and new friendships are formed in the crucible of the cancer ward.
AWARDS
Best Lithuanian Film 2005 by Lithuanian Filmmakers Union; IDFA 2005 – Silver Wolf; International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film 2005 - Golden Dove; Documenta Madrid 2005 – Main Prize; Nominated for the European Film Academy Best Documentary Award of 2005; Submitted for the 79th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2006; Best Director award in Documentary Feature category at the Directors Guild of America Awards 2006; Brooklyn International Film Festival 2006 - Spirit Award for Documentary; Pärnu International Film Festival 2006 - Grand prix; Silverdocs 2006 – Special Jury Mention; ZagrebDox 2006 – Big Stamp (Best Film, International Competition).