ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE

Before Flying Back to Earth

Year
2005
Duration
52’
Director
Аrūnas Matelis

In a lyrical, yet unsentimental fashion, the film shows the lives of children hospitalised with leukemia in Vilnius Pediatric Hospital – the same place where Matelis' daughter had battled and recovered from this disease some time before the start of production. The film is described as "a poetic, unsentimental Lithuanian documentary about the resilience of (the) human spirit". Its laconic style and its formal simplicity have been likened to haiku by some critics.

CREW:
Director: Аrūnas Matelis
Producer: Gerd Haag
Cinematographer: Audrius Kemežys, Algimantė Matelienė
Editor: Katharina Schmidt
Sound: Victoras Juzonis, Jonas Maksvytis, Аrūnas Matelis
Production
Studio Nominum, TAG/TRAUM Filmproduktion, ZDF Productions
Awards
2005 – Silver Wolf Award at IDFA, Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig; 2006 – Spirit Award at the Brooklyn IFF; 2007 – Directors Guild of America Award
Director
Аrūnas Matelis

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

Selected Filmography

Selected filmography: 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
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
From Unfinished Tales of Jerusalem
ARUNAS MATELIS RETROSPECTIVE
From Unfinished Tales of Jerusalem
Year
1996
Country
Lithuania
Director
Аrūnas Matelis
Duration
26’
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