Motherland

Logline

A young American boy returns with his mother Viktorija to her Lithuanian homeland shortly after the fall of the USSR. She hopes to reclaim the family property which was taken from her parents when they were arrested and sent to labour camps.

Synopsis

Shortly after the fall of the USSR, 12-year-old Kovas travels to his mother Viktorija’s homeland for the first time.

It has been 20 years since she escaped Soviet-Occupied Lithuania and has now returned to reclaim her beloved family estate. Viktorija’s former flame, Romas, claims to have useful connections and escorts them to the family land. When they find the tattered estate occupied by an impoverished Russian family, they must consider how far they are willing to go to keep their dreams intact.

Details

written & directed by

Tomas Vengris

ORIGINAL TITLE

Gimtine

PRODUCED BY

Uljana Kim

CO-PRODUCED BY

Roberts Vinovskis

Sebastian Weyland, Knut Jäger

Christos Konstantakopoulos

CAST

Matas Metlevski

Severija Janušauskaitė

Darius Gumauskas

Barbora Bareikytė

CREW

Director oh photography – Audrius Kemežys

Production designer – Ramūnas Rastauskas

Editors – Gintarė Sokelytė, Tomas Vengris

Sound designer – Saulius Urbanavičius

Costume designer – Agnė Rimkutė

Make-up designer -Ušra Rosegard

Composer – Kārlis Auzāns

Casting by – Dovilės Gasiūnaitė

Bio-Filmo

Tomas Vengris studied at the Columbia University. He is a graduate from the Vilnius Academy of Arts and the American Film Institute Conservatory.

Short Films as Director/ Writer:

SQUIRREL (2014), KALIFORNIJA (2013), FOR ABIGAIL, LOVE BENJAMIN (2012)

From 2009 to 2016, Tomas Vengris has worked as an editor, assistant editor on several films and TV. These collaborations include the films of Kelly Reichardt, Terrence Malick etc…

Press Quotes

Screen Daily – by Wendy Ide

“this is an impressive feature debut which explores ideas of cultural identity and legacy”.

“Motherland is an assured piece of filmmaking which should make its mark on the festival circuit”

Cineuropa – by Vladan Petković

”…it is hard to pull back from the screen and the protagonists. Strong performances by all of the main actors certainly help, with Janušauskaitė standing out.”