ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE

From Unfinished Tales of Jerusalem

Year
1996
Country
Lithuania
Duration
26’
Director
Аrūnas Matelis

A meticulously composed documentary about an old heathen ritual that is kept alive in a few places in Lithuania. The film is set in a village in the Samogitia region. The ritual takes place on  Easter eve and continues deep into the night. The inhabitants of the village dress up in colourful costumes as ‘artists’, ‘soldiers’ or ‘Jews’. They congregate in the church where the ‘soldiers’ guard a divine statue and the ‘Jews’ try to steal it. This miraculous mixture of Christian symbolism and old heathen customs becomes increasingly burlesque as the alcohol transforms the religious feast into an exotic one. The village drowns in mud and drink. After the party the village gets back to normal.

CREW:
Director: Аrūnas Matelis 
Producer: Аrūnas Matelis, Romas Marcinkevičius
Cinematographer: Andrius Trukanas, Rimvydas Leipus, Viktoras Radzevičius
Editor: Аrūnas Matelis
Sound: Viktoras Juzonis
Production and Sales
Studio Nominum
Director
Аrūnas Matelis

Аrūnas Matelis was born in 1961 in Kaunas, Lithuania. After directing 10 creative documentary shorts, Arūnas Matelis’s first mid-length documentary Before Flying Back to the Earth received more than 10 awards, including a Directors’ Guild of America (DGA) Award, awards at IDFA Amsterdam, DOK Leipzig, and a nomination for the European Film Award.

Selected Filmography

Selected: Giants of Pelesa (1989), 10 Minutes Before Flight of Icarus (1990), Selfportrait (1993), First Farewell to Paradise (1998), Sunday. Gospel According to Lift-Man Albertas (2003), Before Flying Back to the Earth (2005)

Hall «GEGEMON»
Zhovten cinema
Kostiantynivska St, 26
Q&A with director
Original language with English and Ukrainian subtitles
Hall «ANSHLAG»
Zhovten cinema
Kostiantynivska St, 26
Original language with English and Ukrainian subtitles
22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
Wonderful Losers: A Different World
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Wonderful Losers: A Different World
Year
2017
Country
Lithuania, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Latvia, UK, Ireland, Spain
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
71’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Before Flying Back to Earth
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Before Flying Back to Earth
Year
2005
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
52’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
The Gospel According to Lift-Man Albertas
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
The Gospel According to Lift-Man Albertas
Year
2013
Country
Lithuania
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
19’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
The First Farewell to Paradise
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
The First Farewell to Paradise
Year
1998
Country
Lithuania
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
15’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Ten Minutes Before Flight of Icarus
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Ten Minutes Before Flight of Icarus
Year
1990
Country
Lithuania
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
10’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Flight over Lithuania or 510 Seconds of Silence
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
Flight over Lithuania or 510 Seconds of Silence
Year
2000
Country
Lithuania
Directors
Аrūnas Matelis , Audrius Stonys
Duration
8’
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE