18-10-2012

FESTIVALS: Debut Film Wins Kaunas Audience Award

By FNE Staff

    KAUNAS: Lithuanian filmmaker Dovilė Gasiūnaitė’s first feature film Narcissus (www.ketvirtaversija.lt) won the Audience Award at the Kaunas International Film Festival (www.kinofestivalis.lt).

    Narcissus is produced by Unnecessary Films (www.ketvirtaversija.lt) together with Concept Events & Media (http://www.concept.lt) and 2/35 (Greece)

    Narcissus, which received three nominations for Lithuania’s national film awards, the Silver Cranes, is the story of an overconfident cellist who, despite having a loving family, still wants more. Narcissus is a joint Lithuanian and Greek film which took six years to finish.

    Gasiūnaitė said of the film, “We do not aim to surprise anyone, we have no shots from planes or from under the water, which I probably would like to have had. However, we have something very different. My film shows a narcissus who is a perfectionist... Unfortunately, in real life, neither people nor situations are perfect and it is impossible to find happiness while looking for perfection because it simply does not exist.”

    The second place award went to the documentary Bill Cunningham New York directed by Richard Press. Stefan Schwietert’s Balkan Melody was in third place.

    The 7th Kaunas International Film Festival will take place on 28 September – 6 October 2013.