Lithuanian Oscar nod goes to The Summer of Sangaile
- The Lithuanian Sundance success is to vie for Best Foreign-language Film
Alanté Kavaïté’s film The Summer of Sangaile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alanté Kavaïté
film profile] will be Lithuania’s official candidate for the Oscar nominations for Best Foreign-language Film.
The film tells the story of 17-year-old Sangaile, who is fascinated by stunt planes. Her biggest dream is to become an aerial acrobatics pilot. But she can’t achieve it unless she overcomes her fear of heights and lack of confidence. For Sangaile, that seems impossible. One day, she meets the charismatic and enthralling Auste, the antipode of herself, at the summer aeronautical 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 world premiere took place at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where Kavaïté won the Best Director Award. It was also selected in the Berlinale Panorama. The film went on to travel to 50 festivals this year, and has screened in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Sydney, Zurich, Karlovy Vary, Edinburgh and Bogota.
The film features Julija Steponaityte (as Sangaile) and Aiste Dirziute (as Auste). 23-year-old Dirziute was among the ten talented newcomer actors selected for the European Shooting Stars 2015.
The movie was produced by Fralita Films (Lithuania) and Les Films d’Antoine (France), and was co-produced by Viking Film (the Netherlands). Film production in Lithuania was supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre.
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