A. Blaževičius' debut film "The Saint" received one of the main prizes of Minsk Film Festival

In October, "The Saint", the first feature film by Andrius Blaževičius has been presented at the prestigious international – Busan and Warsaw – film festivals. A bit later, this film which tells with irony about the human crisis situations, was shown also in Lübeck, in the main competition program of the festival Nordic Film Days. The success of this debut effort is demonstrated not only by the regard of famous film events, but also by the special jury prize, last week awarded to A. Blaževičius at the Minsk Film Festival "Listapad".

"The jury awards its prize for the film" The Saint", where human nature was amazingly portrayed by the very talented actor Marius Repšys", – such was the comment of the judges on their verdict.

In the same program, "Youth on the March", together with the Blaževičius' film, competed also the first or second film works by colleagues from Japan, Canada, Colombia, Russia and other countries. They were evaluated by film industry professionals: famous Lithuanian actress of the younger generation Aistė Diržiūtė ("The Summer of Sangaile"), a longtime programmer of the San Sebastian Film Festival, Roberto Cueto, and one of the most exciting Canadian directors of the present days Denis Côté (Vic and Flo Saw a Bear).

According to the director, to him, this achievement is very important, because the program was made up of very strong films that were presented in Class A festivals, such as Cannes and Karlovy Vary.

Teaser of the film: https://vimeo.com/182049133

Film festival tour of "The Saint"

"The Saint" is a story about a guy named Vytas who is living somewhere in the province of Lithuania, balancing on the verge of financial and moral crisis. According to its creator, the film was very well accepted at the biggest Asian film event, Busan International Film Festival, despite significant cultural and mental differences.

“In South Korea, I happened to hear that for some people it was the best film they saw. But the irony of "The Saint", perhaps, was best understood at the Warsaw Film Festival. In general, the film had strong affect on the Polish audience, and again received excellent responses. For many of the festival-goers, where "The Saint" has already been shown, it was not only the first acquaintance with Lithuanian cinema, but also with Lithuania", – the director rejoiced at the success of "The Saint" abroad.

The film was screened in the main competition program of the Festival Nordic Film Days Lübeck, and it also participated in the session, which has become a tradition, in which selected films were discussed by the Swiss pastors. This time, "The Saint" was among the objects of their discussions. 25 pastors, together with the film's director and with producer Marija Razgutė, were discussing the film, based on its script, storyline, language of images, symbols, and other values. According to M. Razgutė, they liked the film very much, and it was selected namely because of its relevance today. Consensus of opinion of the pastors after an hour-long discussion was that 'The Saint' is "a modern film about hope, where very much is told with just a few words".

Premiere of "The Saint" in Lithuania is planned in September 2017.