MĖTA

Info

Year: 2023
Country: Lithuania
Type: Fiction
Duration: 15:00
Formats: DCP, H264, ProRes
Spoken language: Lithuanian
Subtitles: English

Team

Director: Adas Burkšaitis
Screenwriter: Adas Burkšaitis
Producers: Kotryna Ramanauskaitė, Greta Akcijonaitė
Cinematographer: Zbigniev Bartoševič

Produced by: Kino Metropolis, Lithuanian Academy of Music

Director's Bio

I am a film director based in Vilnius, Lithuania. For most of my life I worked as a software engineer and computer scientist before I gathered my courage to transition to films. At last I started studying film directing in "Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre" in 2020. I do not have a solid artistic portfolio just yet, therefore, I have decided to tell my story in free form.

Starting from high school I demonstrated exceptional results in exact sciences and decided to choose that path. I won medals in international olympiads for high school students and graduated with an honorary degree. These achievements helped me to escape "still life" of a tiny village where I grew up and continue education in the United Kingdom. I started undergraduate studies in the University of Cambridge - Times ranked No. 1 university in the world at the time.

During my bachelor years I became interested in movies. At first I saw it as a shelter from obsession of correctitude in exact sciences then as a daydream career opportunity. I always strived for deeper understanding between people and realised that visual art forms allow for extreme immediacy with a complete stranger which long years of friendship often lacks. After graduation I worked for tech companies like "Google", "Barclays", "T-Mobile" but then decided to quit and come back to Lithuania to pursue my growing interest in directing.

I have already written and directed several short movies which were screened in "Vilnius International Short Film Festival", "Litauisches Kino Goes Berlin", "CILECT", and other festivals. I am also passionate about theatre and have directed a repertoire stage play "Honey I'm Home" (2017) in Vilnius. I believe that theatre strengthens a movie director's wits, encourages to experiment and work with actors.

My background has an important influence on my creative work. I am interested in how technology affects the contemporary world and how it may isolate people from each other, widening the gap between content creators and consumers (or movie creators and spectators in a more specific case).

My last short film "On purpose" centres around redemption. An 8-year-old girl Mėta struggles to find help for her injured dog. Through the eyes of a child protagonist it investigates individual and collective guilt, anxiety and efforts required to redeem a bad deed. Finally, "On purpose" attempts to examine how under seamlessly accidental bad deed lies a darker side of human nature.

This year I graduated with a Masters in film directing from "Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre" which equipped me with formal skills required to enter a complex world of filmmaking. I am only starting my path as a filmmaker and still have a long way to go but I hope that my short movie funded by tax debts and the drum set I sold will be a step to prove my determination to carry on.

Director's Filmography

On Purpose (2022, short)
Reconstruction (2022, short)
Advice (2021, short)
Static (2021, short)

PUBLIC MATERIALS