Lithuanian film

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The Lithuanian film was marked by the time the Soviet Union was passed as the whole industry of the country by a company under state control. After independence in 1990, this industry disintegrated and private film companies took over film production, which has since lost its importance.

Beginnings

1909 is seen as the birth of the cinema in Lithuania. That year, Antanas Raciunas, who had meanwhile emigrated to America, filmed his hometown for others who had emigrated from Lithuania, and Władysław Starewicz made the film Prie Nemuno . Starewicz made his first puppet cartoons as early as 1910 . From 1921 newsreels were produced for cinemas.

The first feature films did not appear until 1931, when the film Onyte ir Jonelis was made in the film company Lietfilm under the direction of Jurgis Linartas and Vladas Stipaitis . In 1938 Stasys Usinskas published the puppet film Storulio sapnas, the first animated Lithuanian sound film.

At the time of the Soviet Union

In the early 1940s, a studio was founded in Lithuania under Soviet rule, which from then on was responsible for the production of newsreels. This studio produced its first feature film in 1953, Ausra prie Nemuno , but still in coproduction with Lenfilm . In 1956 it was renamed Lietuvos kino studija and from then on served as the headquarters for the state film industry. The studio produced its first independent feature film in 1957 under the direction of Vytautas Mikalauskas with Zydrasis horizontas .

During the Soviet Union, Lietuvos kino studija produced three to four feature films (mostly together with other Soviet film companies), forty documentaries and thirty to forty newsreels a year. Although censorship and imposed ideology weighed on many filmmakers, some received international film awards - including Vytautas Žalakevičius , Arūnas Žebriūnas , Raimundas Vabalas and Algimantas Puipa .

Since independence in 1990

When Lithuania became independent in 1990, the state film industry disintegrated and the Lietuvos kino studija lost its importance. As early as 1987 had Šarūnas Bartas with Kinema established a first non-state film production company. Although private companies took over the film production, the number of films and the budget fell sharply; around two feature films and ten documentaries are produced each year. In 2006 the state invested 4.8 million litas in the film industry. In particular, co-productions with other countries have become more frequent in recent years. American films have dominated Lithuanian cinemas since 1990. Production in Lithuania is considered particularly inexpensive, which is why dozens of films and series have been shot here.

For example, Arūnas Matelis and Algimantas Puipa are directors who have been making films successfully since independence and have won international awards for their work. Matelis' Before the Flight to Earth was nominated for the European Film Award. Puipa's films Vilko dantu karoliai (The Wolf's Teeth Chain , 1997), Dievų miškas (2005) and Nuodėmės užkalbėjimas (2007) reached 60,000 to 70,000 visitors in Lithuania.

Numerous cartoons are made every year. There are several film studios that specialize in animation films - such as Vilanima , Animaciniu Filmu Studija AJ and Animagija . Antanas Janauskas , who has been making cartoons since 1968, Nijole Valadkeviciute , Jūratė Leikaitė and others are among the leading animation directors in Lithuania.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of Lithuanian animation at the Lithuanian Theater, Music and Film Museum ( Memento from March 30, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Website on Lietuvos kino studija at the Lithuanian Theater, Music and Film Museum ( Memento from March 29, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ World Film Production Report (excerpt) ( Memento from August 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Screen Digest, June 2006, p. 208 (accessed on August 3, 2007)
  4. ↑ Dievu miškas at Lumiere
  5. ↑ Annika Pham: Lithuanian Film Studios' promising dawn , Cineuropa, May 24, 2007