BOUND World Premiere at Oscar Qualifying Rhode Island International Film festival

08/08/2020

Autorius: VakaruVejai.com

Cinematographers Rhode Island Film Festival Saulius Lukoševičius

Short film BOUND, shot by Lithuanian cinematographer Saulius Lukoševičius, will premiere at Rhode Island International film festival (USA). The 24th Oscar Qualifying festival is taking place online this year, so film lovers from around the world will have the opportunity to see most of the program in their homes. BOUND’s premiere will take place tonight, and the film will be available until August 12.

Rhode Island International Film festival is one of the best International Film Festivals in the world and top 10 Short Film Festivals in the United States. This year, out of 6500 submissions, around 140 shorts were selected. Among them – two Lithuanian cinematographer’s short films – BOUND (dir. Mikhail Saburov) and UNFOLDED (dir. Cristina Picchi).

„Bound” and „Unfolded” were selected to Rhode Island International Film Festival

dir. Mikhail Saburov and cinem. Saulius Likoševičius

BOUND tells Saulius Lukoševičius’ childhood story. “I remember myself 6-7 years old playing hide and seek in my grandmother’s place in a small village in Lithuania. I decided to hide in an old broken fridge, locked myself in and almost died due to lack of oxygen. Up to this day, I would keep remembering that event and when the opportunity presented itself I decided to finally tell my personal story.” – says the co-writer and cinematographer Saulius Lukoševičius.

The short film was made as a part of the S.Lukoševičius cinematography studies at American Film Institute. “Since I had a very small budget, I was even considering not doing the film at all”, – says Saulius, “However, having had indie-movies experience back in Europe, I knew that with the right people – everything is possible and we could make this film happen with many favors and at a low cost”. The filmmakers got lucky to wrap their principle photography the night before the whole country got shut down as the result of COVID-19. If it was for one more shooting day, this 4 minute movie wouldn’t exist.

It was important for Saulius to replicate his childhood in every detail and bring his Lithuanian identity, so the whole team purposefully looked for as many Lithuanians to be involved as possible. The main adult part was played by Lithuanian actor Mantas Valantiejus and the character in his childhood was portrayed by Gerrison Machado. Additionally, the filmmakers contacted Lithuanian community center in Los Angeles and casted Lithuanian kids for the supporting roles (Karolina Bučinskas, Liepa Gailiūnė, Alissa Warren). The sound design was made by Olga Bulygo (who Saulius knew from his previous film school in Lithuania) and the fridge was donated by Vytautas Narutis.

Karolina Bučinskas, Liepa Gailiūnė ir Alisa Warren

The filmmakers used facebook groups and friends of friends to find the locations for free or for a very symbolic price, but it led them nowhere. “One day, strolling through one of the remote neighborhoods we got approached by a man who invited us to look at his territory. He was courteous and seemingly interested to help”, remembers the director Mikhail Sabuorv, “We couldn’t believe our luck! When we returned with our producer several days later to finalize the deal, everything was different. The seemingly nice man (now covered in tar) greeted us with “Don’t pet my dog!”. The house was a mess – windows covered, furniture lying around. But the centerpiece was a shelf full of awards. “Do you know who I am? Google me!”, – the man screamed. Feeling that something is terribly wrong we played along. Turned out he was an ex-martial artist and a black belt at that. He led us deeper into the house stopping by the bedroom. “Honey! They’re here!”, – he said to his wife. The only thing was… the bedroom was empty. Scared out of our minds, we still didn’t leave – he was our only option! We even agreed to work at his barn for half a day just to get the place. Fortunately, thanks to Tomas Umbrasas who decided to support our film and we were able to get a better (and safer) location that resembled Lithuania much more.”

“I am extremely happy about our film success, the fact that our short film is included in the competition program of one of the largest film festivals in the United States, shows that I am on the right professional path and that I can contribute to the promotion of Lithuania’s name with my movies. ” – Saulius Lukoševičius shared his thoughts before the premiere.

The filmmakers wish to thank everybody who helped to make this short happen, especially the producers Lauro Rocha and Zane Kalnina, production designer Matt Leonardo, Italian composers Carmelo Emanuele Patti & Giorgio Giampà, as well as Atlas lens, Keslow Camera, Tiffen Company, Kodak, Lee Filters for donations. Special thanks to AFI cinematography department head and current ASC president Stephen Lighthill who encouraged Saulius to tell this story.

Due to the pandemic, BOUND will have its online premiere as a part of “Time for you and time for me” shorts program on Wednesday, August 5th 18:00 (Eastern Time Zone) and will be online until August 12. Those who live in Rhode Island, can enjoy it on the big screen on Thursday, August 6th 20:00pm as part of Cine-Quebec Double Feature program at Rustic Tri View Drive-In.

Promotional trailer: