The Summer of Sangaile wins Best Director at Sundance
- Alantė Kavaitė, the director of the Lithuanian-French co-production, has walked away with the prize
The Summer of Sangaile [+see also:
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interview: Alanté Kavaïté
film profile], by Lithuanian director Alantė Kavaitė, has won the Best Director Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The film tells the story of 17-year-old Sangaile, who is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets Auste, a girl her age, at the summer air show near her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret, and in the process finds in her teenage love the only person who truly encourages her to fly.
The film stars Lithuanian actresses Julija Steponaitytė and Aistė Diržiūtė; the latter is also among the ten newcomer actors selected for the European Shooting Stars 2015.
The film had its world premiere in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition (the first Lithuanian film to do so) and will shortly have its European premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.
It continues the huge run of success for Lithuanian fare over the past two years, with films such as The Gambler [+see also:
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interview: Ignas Jonynas
film profile] winning plaudits across the festival circuit (including being the first Lithuanian movie to screen at San Sebastian).
The film is produced by Fralita Films (Lithuania) and Les Films d’Antoine (France), and is co-produced by Viking Film (Netherlands). It was supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre.
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