Discussion
The beginning of a partnership by documentary film director and producer Giedre Zickyte and young-lithuanian generation film director Marija Stonyte resembles a scene from a short movie. Just after completing her short documentary “Mountains to Climb” (Kalnai kalnai), Marija was walking the street, while a bird pooped on her hand. What is said to be good luck, turned out to be good luck just in a few minutes. Giedre was sitting in a café near by, struggling to sort out her documentary film “Gentle Warriors” about young women voluntarily enlisting in army, which she couldn’t continue as had to travel to the United States to film another movie. While Giedre was thinking how to solve the problem, Marija appeared at the same cafe. A small instant talk a few years ago and currently we are waiting for the premiere of Marija’s directed feature debut “Gentle Warriors”, which is postponed due to coronavirus as well as Giedre’s directed documentary “The Jump”, shot in the U.S. That also resulted in Giedre Zickyte currently collecting awards not only as a documentary director, but also as a producer. Her co-produced joint Ukrainian and Lithuanian documentary, directed by Irina Tsilyk “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange” is the winner of the “Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary” at 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
During the discussion, Giedre Zickyte and Marija Stonyte will share the secrets of successful partnership of the director and the producer and will tell us more on their currently developed international movies, both, personal and team experience. The challenges of pandemic and changes in creators’ reality will also be taken into consideration.
Marija Stonyte currently directs Giedre’s established production house produced movie “My Bollywood Dream” and the shooting schedule in India is postponed due to coronavirus. Recently Marija presented the project virtually in “The Edinburgh Pitch“ as well as Giedre Zickyte had to present her currently directed documentary movie “Masha” project virtually at “Hot docs“ film forum, instead of being in Toronto. However, the virtual format was not an obstacle as “Masha” won the honorary mention from the Hot Docs first look Prize committee.
Film producer from ZED (France) Christine Le Goff saw Giedre’s movie “Master and Tatyana” about the life of the famous Lithuanian photographer Vitas Luckus and offered her to direct a story about the incredible discovery of a trove of photographs by a Russian woman photographer Masha Ivashintsova, now called the Russian Vivian Maier.
Time: 14th of November, Saturday, 15:00
Duration: 1,5 hours.
Venue: online streaming
Event in Lithuanian.