Lithuanian film that will seek Oscar this year has been selected – it's "Conversations on Serious Topics" by director Giedrė Beinoriūtė

The Oscar committee, approved by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, this year selected documentary film "Conversations on Serious Topics" as Lithuanian candidate eligible for the Best Foreign Language Film. Although films of this genre are quite rare among the entries to seek an Oscar, it is already the third Lithuanian documentary film to compete for the most prestigious award of the industry.

The film "Conversations on Serious Topics" by director Giedrė Beinoriūtė tells a story without exterior action, props, landscapes or special effects. Main characters of this film are children and teenagers with a special ability to describe the surrounding world. Shot in a minimalist fashion, intimate conversations with them reveal the picture of the modern world – at times melancholic, at times comical, at times dramatic. The film raises questions about loneliness, love, God, the world and human relations.

This year, four films were presented for the selection: three documentaries and one fictional film. Unfortunately, one of the films submitted to the committee did not meet the fundamental requirement of the Academy, which indicates that most of the creative control of the film has to belong to nationals or permanent residents of the delegating country, and therefore can not be considered as a candidate to represent Lithuania. According to the Chairman of the committee, Arūnas Matelis, the remaining three documentary films were evaluated by the members of the committee as works of equal value by very talented creators.  After the second secret vote, majority of votes went to the film "Conversations on Serious Topics".

The committee consists of: Chairman of the Committee - the European Film Academy member, recipient of the National Culture and Art Prize, winner of the Directors Guild of America Award, film director Arūnas Matelis; members of the committee - Lithuanian film, television and theatre actor, diplomat Juozas Budraitis; Doctor of Humanities, associate professor of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, member of the European Film Academy, film scholar Gražina Arlickaitė; member of the European Film Academy, cinematographer Rimvydas Leipus; recipient of the National Culture and Art Prize, film director and cinematographer Kornelijus Matuzevičius; recipient of the National Culture and Art Prize, writer Icchokas Meras; film critic, chief editor of the newspaper "7 meno dienos" (7 days of Art), chief editor of the magazine "Kinas" (Cinema) Linas Vildžiūnas.