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About
Filmmaker Gabrielė Urbonaitė posts about her work and fields of interest.
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I just got back from Berlin yesterday. What an inspirational time! For 6 days at Berlinale Talent Campus I was meeting other talented filmmakers, and attending lectures of experts like documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky (“Vivan las antipodas!”), editor Moly Malene Stensgaard (“Melancholia”), D.O.P. Edward Lachman (“Import/Export”) and others. The best part about the campus was exchanging ideas to other filmmakers and building a network of contacts. Other two Lithuanians who took part in the Campus were D.O.P. Saulius Lukoševičius and a producer Rimantė Daugėlaitė.
Because of an intensive Campus program, I had only 3 days to watch films in Berlin International Film Festival. During this time, I saw 16 films and would point out some of them.
La Demora (Forum section), a simple and sensitive drama about a woman who abandons her elderly father, won the prize of the ecumenical jury.
Dollhouse (Panorama), a coming-of-age drama about five young adults who break into a house and throw an insane party ends unrealistically but somehow poetically. Few people applauded after the end credits, and I haven’t decided yet whether it was good or bad, but it was mind-blowing for sure.
Elles (Panorama), a drama about a middle age Parisian journalist (J.Binoche) who conducts interviews with two students in order to finish her article about young prostitutes. Interesting and not judgmental approach to the issue, however, Binoche’s suffering on screen didn’t convince me enough.
Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present (Panorama), a documentary on Marina Abramovic and its show “The Artist Is Present” in MOMA, Spring 2010, was one of the most beautifully done documentaries in the past years. Not surprisingly, it won the Panorama Audience Award for Documentary.
As for the films from Competition, I saw two: A Royal Affair, a historical drama set in Denmark during a little explored time in cinema – the Enlightenment era, won silver bears for the best actor and best script.
Rebelle, a cruelly realistic story about a kid soldier in Africa (best actress).
Last but not least, few inspirational lines from Victor Kossakovsky found in my notebook: “Storytelling is literature. Show story, don’t tell it” and “There’s a cinema god somewhere who moves your hand”.
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I was accepted to Berlinale Talent Campus, a one-week film school and networking platform, which will take place during the 62nd Berlin Film Festival from February 11 – 16, 2012. Sooo excited! See you in Berlin!
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In Spring 2010, I was involved into Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) production program. During few months, I produced few short films together with my peers. “About Feminism” is a documentary reportage on feminist issues in Cambridge. It consists of interviews with women of Cambridge and archival material.
About Feminism on CCTV Website
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’16 mm’ is a documentary I made in Spring 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It’s a story told by Mary Sherman, a painter, whose father was an engineer and amateur filmmaker. After he died, Mary didn’t know what to do with his 16 mm cameras, and she decided to give them to me. Her noble gesture inspired me to make a film about the past of those cameras as well as about Mary’s relation with her father.
16mm on Vimeo
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In July 2011, I had been doing film and photography for www.eurobasket.lt in FIBA U19 World Championship for men (30th June – 10th July, Latvia). Quite a new role for me, but I enjoyed it a lot! Lithuania won gold, which made this event even more spectacular! Here’s some my works:
Press Conference After Lithuania – USA game
Lithuanian U19 Team Hymns The National Anthem in Lithuania’s Embassy in Riga
Winners Coming Back Home
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In Spring 2011, I was producer and co-writer of a short fiction film “On the Road” (Pakeliui), directed by young perspective filmmaker Klaudija Matvejevaite. It tells a story of two friends going to a music festival and discovering each other from new. So-called ‘road movie’ was made in Skalvija Film Academy.
Official selection to Kyiv International Short Film Festival (section Go East), Ukraine, 2012.
Third place in short film festival “Following Jonas Mekas”, Lithuania, 2011.
On the Road on Vimeo
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In Spring 2010, I assisted on Michel Gondry’s interview with Prof. Noam Chomsky at MIT, Cambridge, Mass., which was shot Bolex and video cameras and illustrated by hand-drawn animation.
Untitled Noam Chomsky Documentary on IMDB
Also in Spring 2010, I was sound operator in Nic Guevara’s film Blind Luck that was shot in Cambridge, Mass. Here’s the Blind Luck Teaser
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Jaunieji Kino Kurejai (The Young Filmmakers) was a film camp that took place in Lithuanian seaside, in August 2010. Its aim was to unite the ideas of disabled youth and the ones of film students in order to make few short films. I was the director of the experimental group and our work’s result was a story of a human-box and his attempts to enter into relations with the surroundings. This social experiment is based on the books of Kobo Abe. That’s where the title (in Lithuanian) comes from: Socialinis Eksperimentas Kobo Abes Motyvais (S.E.K.A.M.)
It’s available here: S.E.K.A.M. on Youtube
Watch the making of here (in Lithuanian): Making Of on Vimeo
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I’m working at 3 projects at the moment.
I’m writing a script about a solitary girl who spends all her days in the swimming pool. There she meets a little girl who is totally opposite to the swimmer – cheerful, childish, and talkative. Step by step, she and her brother change the worldview of the swimmer.
I’m working as a producer at a short fiction film (which doesn’t have a title yet) directed by Klaudija Matvejevaite as her piece for “Skalvija” Film Academy. We’ll be shooting this film in the end of April, and the premiere will take place in “Skalvija”, May 28th. The film is about two friends going to a music festival, their adventures and discoveries on the road.
At the last, I’m editing a very personal documentary whose main hero is my very good friend and classmate Kotryna. She talks about going abroad and coming back, as well as about doing last year of high school. However, this documentary talks not only about her or me, but of all young people who have to leave their secure and clear life, and face an unknown tomorrow
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The Path is a short fiction film made in CRLS (Cambridge Rindge and Latin) high school’s Media Class, in Spring 2010. Meghan (M.Goodman) is a hard-working high-school student who plans her future in detail. One day, her worldview changes because of a French guy Michel (R.Teil) who appears on her doorstep. A walk around Boston, full of funny misunderstandings caused by cultural differences, lead them to the new friendship.
watch The Path on Vimeo
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Dadzis, Babile, and Me (Dadzis, Babile ir as) is an experimental documentary produced in Spring 2009, “Skalvija” Film Academy. It is a story of me going to my grandparents’ house for an advise on my future career. Dadzis (that’s the nickname of my grandfather) is happy because he enjoys his job from the bottom of his heart. Babile, my grandmother, is not as lucky because her dreams were not realized…
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The Observer (Stebetojas) is my latest short fiction film. Made in “Skalvija” Film Academy, 2011, it shows a story of a boy who has a habit to observe his neighbors. One evening, he notices an attempt to commit a suicide, and decides to rescue the victim.
The Observer on Vimeo
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“Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world”
“A bout de souffle” (Breathless), “Bande a part” (Band of Outsiders) and “Made in U.S.A.” are ones of my favorite films of all time
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Once Upon a Time in the Summer (Karta Vasara) is my short fiction film that I shot in summer 2009. It is a story about a boy who visits his friend in the countryside. There he meets a mysterious girls whom he gets allergic to. In the end, he doesn’t know if this acquaintance was real at all.
Cast: Vytautas Katkus, Une Kaunaite, Jonas Kuklys, Nomeda Urboniene, Silvija Prakapaite, Severija Bielskyte, Dziuginta Daujotaite, Aurimas Zemaitis.
Crew: Gabriele Urbonaite (Director/Scripwriter/Editor), Dziugas Sema (Director of Photography), Marija Kavtaradze (Producer), Severija Bielskyte (Assistant)
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Buttons and Pigeons (Sagos ir Balandziai) 2009, is a short documentary about fears. It’s an authentic story about different fears, creation and frustration coming out of it. The first line is a story about a mother who’s afraid of buttons and her daughter who’s afraid of pigeons. fears. The second is the director’s line, talking about the process of filmmaking and the fear of failure. It’s a sincere piece, revealing the world-view of the new generation of artists.
Buttons and Pigeons were screened in the Youth Film Festival “Youth Vision” in Boston, Massachusetts, 2010 and in Vilnius Documentary Film Festival, 2010.
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I am Gabrielė Urbonaitė (born in 1993, Vilnius, Lithuania), writer, director and editor currently based in Los Angeles. I started making short films at the age of 14. After a year of Philosophy studies in Paris, France, I moved to Boston, MA to study Film Production at Emerson College. I earned my B.F.A. with Honors in 2016. I was selected to Berlinale Talent Campus in 2012, Odense Talent Camp in 2013, and to Berlinale Talents Short Film Station in 2015. I am a recipient of Princess Grace Film Award and “Silver Crane” National Lithuanian Film Award for Best Short Film, as well as a member of Lithuanian Academy of Cinema (LiKA).
In my films, I explore themes of identity, migration, self-discovery, and alienation. Besides making and watching films, I enjoy traveling, reading, swimming, biking, and yoga. I am fluent in Lithuanian, English, and French.
Contact: gabriele@vilma.cc
Gabriele Urbonaite Resume
IMDb Page
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