Frost by Šarūnas Bartas selected to compete for the Academy Award

The decision was taken by the Lithuanian Oscar Committee. Frost, which is the latest work of the filmmaker Šarūnas Bartas, competed for the right to run for the prestigious award in the category of the best foreign language film with the other two candidates – The Saint directed by Andrius Blaževičius (2016) and Together For Ever by Lina Lužytė (2016).

“It is important for me, because it’s more than just my movie,” says Bartas, who feels honoured by the decision of the Lithuanian committee to choose Frost as the country’s candidate for the next Academy Award in the category of the best foreign language film. “I believe that this film is also much more than just Lithuanian. Sometimes fiction and reality are too close to each other and often the reality is worse than fiction, but always worth it.”

The world premiere of Frost took place in May this year within the programme “Directors’ Fortnight” at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival and has already travelled to several other important film industry events, including the international festivals in Locarno and Odessa. On Sunday, Frost will be screened at the Riga International Film Festival. In Lithuania, the film premiered on August 18.

Filmed during a complicated expedition to the front lines of Ukraine, Frost tells a story of Inga and Rokas carrying aid from Vilnius to Ukraine. At the line of engagement in Donetsk, the young couple raised in the independent Lithuania without the experience of war quickly realise the feelings of people in the face of hatred, aggression, violence and ruin.

The main characters are played by young Lithuanian debutants Mantas Jančiauskas and Lyja Maknavičiūtė. The cast also includes the French film star Vanessa Paradis, famous Polish actor Andrzej Chyra and others. It is a Lithuanian, French, Ukrainian and Polish co-production partly funded by the Lithuanian Film Centre.

Frost is a great example of an international coproduction between Lithuania (“Studija Kinema“), France (“KinoElektron“, “KNM“, “Reborn Production“), Ukraine (“InsightMedia“, “Tato Film“), Poland (“Donten & Lacroix Films“) supported by film funds of each country. It gathers producers Jurga Dikciuviene, Janja Kralj, Michel Merkt, Olena Yershova, Volodymyr Filippov, Maria Blicharska, Monika Sajko-Gradowska and coproducers Marc Simoncini and Remi Burah.

Film Frost was also pre-selected for European Film Awards. International sales are handled by “Luxbox”.