Lithuania has nominated Alante Kavaite’s bold and moving teen lesbian coming of age pic The Summer of Sangaile for best foreign language Oscar.
The Lithuanian-French co-production picked up an award for best directing in the World Cinema section at Sundance after its world premiere there in January. It also took best film at the Lithuanian national awards this year and had a competition slot in Berlin’s Panorama section.
A bitter-sweet story of 17-year-old Sangaile’s (Julija Steponaityte) desperate desire to learn to fly, balanced by a neurotic fear of flying and her unfolding relationship with artistic dress designer Auste (Aiste Dirziute, European Film Promotion’s Shooting Star for Lithuania, 2015), the film is a sensuous and sensitive portrayal of the power of love.
The film is produced by Zivile Gallego of Fralita Films and Antoine Simkine of Les Films d’Antoine and co-produced by Viking Film (Netherlands). Film production in Lithuania was supported by the Lithuanian Film Center.
