Kristina Buožytė

Kristina Buožytė ([krʲɪstʲɪnɐ buəʑiːtʲeː]; born October 9, 1982) is a Lithuanian film director, screenwriter and editor. In her early films she focused on women, explored their inner world and depicted them using fantasy elements. Her last and so far best known film Vanishing Waves (original title Aurora) is described as a hypnotic, sensual sci-fi experience[1] and sexually explicit sci-fi tale[2] which was rewarded with 22 international awards in Europe and North America.

Kristina Buožytė
Born (1982-10-09) October 9, 1982
Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Alma materLithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA)
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter, editor
Years active2005–present

Career

Kristina Buožytė was born in Klaipėda, Lithuania. Since her adolescence she admired fantasy literature and attended theatre classes at Klaipeda Youth Theatre wanting to become an actress or a theatre director. In 2001 Buožytė entered Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, but there was no course for theatre directing at that time, so she started studying Film and TV directing instead and got immersed in the cinema world.[3] The film-maker graduated the academy with a bachelor's degree in 2005 and master's degree in 2008 both in Film and TV directing.

During her years at the academy Buožytė created a number of short feature films, actively participated at Summer Media Studio in Juodkrantė, Lithuania, where she was awarded with the Best Film Marketing for Change the Record in 2005 and the Best Documentary Screenwriter for Send Me a Letter in 2006 as well as working in several film and TV companies as editor, script supervisor and director. Buožytė's first notable piece is the bachelor's degree diploma short film Change the Record. It is a comedic story about the young women who is longing for romantic feelings and involves in a relationship with a tiny man who appears while the vinyl records plays. The film was selected for the student film festival Cinema Mines'05 (Kino minos'05) and received positive feedbacks from both critics and cinema professionals. Lithuanian cinema critic Skirmantas Valiulis drew correlation between Buožytė's Change the Record and Pedro Almodóvar's Talk To Her where a tiny man engages in sexual activity.[4]

The Collectress (Kolekcionierė)

Kristina Buožytė's master's degree diploma film The Collectress is about a young woman Gailė (Gabija Ryškuvienė) who lost her ability to feel the emotions after her father's death. In order to regain the feelings Gailė has to film the situations and watch them again. She starts to constructs sexual situations, thus 'the collection' grows.[5] According to the film-maker, the idea for the screenplay came when searching for the reason why people react to emotions shown on the screen more intensively than to those in real life.[6] From its original plot itself to the visual depiction of the essential instincts, The Collectress was review as a freudian, brave and controversial film which contributes a new and fresh piece in Lithuanian cinema.[7] Also it was warmly welcomed internationally: the film was shown in more than 30 film festivals in Europe (Karlovy Vary, Pusan, Valencia, Meinheim, Anapa), North Africa (Cairo) and South America (São Paulo). Furthermore, Buožytė received The Best Film Award in Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver Crane (Sidabrinė gervė) and The Best Director Award in Kinoshock, Russia in 2008. The international success of the film-maker's debut opened possibilities for her further career.[8]

Vanishing Waves (Aurora)

Buožytė's second feature film Vanishing Waves is about the emotionally remote scientist Lucas (Marius Jampolskis) who participates in neurological experiment where he successfully contacts a young comatose woman named Aurora (Jurga Jutaitė).[9] Lucas subconsciously communicates with Aurora's suppressed personality, breaks the rules and lies to the superiors about their relationship.[10] Because of the uncertain boundaries between dream and reality Vanishing Waves is often compared with Christopher Nolan’s Inception, except when Christopher Nolan's films are called sterile and sexless, Buožytė gives the audiences an immersive depiction of unconscious dreamworld as a surreal and explicit psychosexual smorgasbord that would make Freud blush.[11] Vanishing Waves is also compared to Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut because of its soft-core sex scenes[12] and Tarkovsky's Solaris because of its symbolic titular planet.[13] Meanwhile the director points out that film explores the psychological aspects of the relationships - all the feelings, the attitudes, the sufferings and the pleasures begin in human's head, thus the main focus is on the egocentrism of the main character and its transformation during the experiences of desire, pleasure and love.[14] It is the first science fiction film made in Lithuania and the first Lithuanian film distributed in North America.

Vanishing Waves was named the Best European Fantasy Film in 2012 and received 21 other awards of which 15 went to Kristina Buožytė for her creative work as a screenwriter and director. Buožytė's films fulfilled with eroticism, philosophical searching, and visual splendor makes her new provocative and exited European talent and it deserves to be noticed by cinephiles around the world.[15]

Filmography[16]

Feature films
YearEnglish TitleOriginal titleCredits
2008The CollectressKolekcionierėDirector, writer
2012Vanishing WavesAuroraDirector

Short films
YearEnglish TitleOriginal titleCredits
2003Stop!Stop!Director, writer, editor
FatamorganaFatamorganaDirector, writer
The HoleSkylėDirector, writer, editor
2004ExperimentEksperimentasDirector, editor
The PoemPoemaDirector
The DolbiesKuklūs vyrukaiDirector, writer, editor
Ward No 2323 palataDirector, writer, editor
2005Change the RecordPakeisk plokštelęDirector, writer, editor
2006Juozas Meskauskas (documentary)Juozas Meškauskas (documentary)Director, writer, editor

Awards and nominations
YearFestivalCategoryNominated workResult
2008Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver Crane (Sidabrinė gervė)Best FilmThe CollectressWon
2008Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver Crane (Sidabrinė gervė)Best DirectorThe CollectressNominated
2008Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver Crane (Sidabrinė gervė)Best Screenplay (with Bruno Samper and Darius Gylys)[17]The CollectressNominated
2008XVII Open Film Festival of CIS countries, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia Kinoshock 2008[18]Best DirectorThe CollectressWon
2012Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Program: East of WestSpecial Mention (with Bruno Samper)[19]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film FestivalSpecial Mention of the International Jury[20]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film FestivalNarcisse Award for Best Feature FilmVanishing WavesNominated
2012Palić Film FestivalSpecial Mention[21]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Miskolc International Film FestivalJameson FeaturesVanishing WavesWon
2012Miskolc International Film FestivalEmeric Pressburger Prize[22]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Fantastic FestFantastic Feature Best PictureVanishing WavesWon
2012Fantastic FestFantastic Feature Best DirectorVanishing WavesWon
2012Fantastic FestFantastic Feature Best Spreenplay (with Bruno Sampen)[23]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Lund International Fantastic Film FestivalFeature Film Méliès d'Argent[24]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Sitges - Festival Internacional de Cinema de CatalunyaFeature Film Méliès d'Or[25]Vanishing WavesWon
2012Rio Grind Film FestivalBest Film[26]Vanishing WavesWon
2013Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver CraneBest FilmVanishing WavesWon
2013Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver CraneBest DirectorVanishing WavesWon
2013Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards Silver CraneBest Screenplay (with Bruno Samper)[27]Vanishing WavesWon
2013Jameson Dublin International Film FestivalBest Film[28]Vanishing WavesWon
gollark: It's the 18th anniversary of it, yes.
gollark: No, it's the 9/11 terrorist attack he seems to not want to refer to by name.
gollark: Massively insane overreaction to terrorist attacks has *not only* resulted in significantly curtailed freedoms (border control, interwebbernet monitoring/heightened surveillance generally, airports, etc.) but also sucked horrendous amounts of resources which probably could have been used to help with that.
gollark: Meanwhile there's more than *one death per second* worldwide.
gollark: I mean, in the past, let's say two decades, terrorist attacks have killed maybe a few thousand people (EDIT: in otherwise reasonably stable Western countries).

References
  1. Sélavy, Virginie (May 13, 2013). Kristinia Buozyte on Vanishing Waves. Electricsheepmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. Scheck, Frank (March 17, 2013). Vanishing Waves: Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  3. Radzevičienė, Laisvė (June 09, 2013). Kino režisierė Kristina Buožytė: „Kartais norisi gyvenimą iškeikti“. 15min.lt. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  4. Kino minų informacija (November 15, 2005). KINO MINOS'05 - profesionalūs lietuviško kino žaidimai. Lithuanian Film Centre. Lfc.lt. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. Lithuanian Film Centre. Kolekcionierė/2008. Lfc.lt. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  6. Delfi informacija (November 24, 2014). Geriausias šių metų lietuviškas filmas „Kolekcionierė“ išleistas DVD. Delfi.lt. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  7. Kulvietis, Marijus. Recenzija: Kolekcionierė Archived 2016-04-27 at the Wayback Machine. Kinas.info. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  8. Brašiškis, Lukas (July 2, 2009). Jaunasis lietuvių kinas: čia ir dabar (II). Kristina Buožytė. Bernardinai.lt. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  9. Fear, David (March 11, 2013). Vanishing Waves: movie review. Time Out New York. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  10. Humanick, Rob (March 14, 2013). Film Review: Vanishing Waves. SlantMagazine.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  11. Kewley, Pat (24 July 2013). 'Vanishing Waves' Is an Erotic and Surreal Sci-Fi Head Trip. PopMatters.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  12. Scheck, Frank (March 17, 2013). Vanishing Waves: Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  13. Wilkins, Budd (July 26, 2013). DVD REVIEW: Vanishing Waves. SlantMagazine.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  14. Sélavy, Virginie (May 13, 2013). Record of: Kristinia Buozyte on Vanishing Waves. ElectricSheepMagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  15. Kewley, Pat (24 July 2013). 'Vanishing Waves' Is an Erotic and Surreal Sci-Fi Head Trip. PopMatters.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  16. Lithuanian Film Centre. Artists Profile: Kristina Buožytė. Lfc.lt. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  17. Lithuanian Cinema and TV Awards. Silver Cane 2008. Lika.lt. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  18. Kinoshock 2008. Winners. Kinoshock.ru. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  19. 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Awards. Kviff.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  20. Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2012. Winners. Nifff.ch. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  21. 19th Palic Film Festival(July 19, 2012). Fourth Press Conference Archived 2014-03-18 at the Wayback Machine, Palicfilmfestival.com. Retrieved March 8. 2014.
  22. Miskolc International Film Festival. Winners of the 9th Cinefest Jameson International Film Festival 2012. Cinefest.hu. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  23. Bordes, Meredith (September 09, 2012). The Fantastic Fest 2012 Awards!. Fantasticfest.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  24. Lund International Fantastic Film Festival. The Festivals. Melies.org. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  25. Sitges - Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya. The Festivals Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine. Melies.org. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  26. Lietuvos Kino Centras (February 27, 2013). Lithuanian film ‘Vanishing waves’ receives one more award. Lkc.lt. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  27. Domeikaitė, Audrė (May 11, 2013). „Sidabrinės gervės 2013“ apdovanojimuose triumfavo „Aurora“. 15min.lt. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  28. Film Ireland (February 26, 2013). JDIFF 2013: Winners at the 2013 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. Filmireland.net. Retrieved March 8, 2014.

Further reading
  • "Kristina Buožytė: Film Is the Door to a Specific World" in Lithuanian Cinema: Special Edition for Lithuanian Film Days in Poland 2015, Auksė Kancerevičiūtė [ed.]. Vilnius: Lithuanian Film Centre, 2015. ISBN 6099574409.
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