After a packed premiere in the US, Mammoth Hunt was presented at a famous film festival in Europe Culture

Every year at this festival, which has been organized for thirty years, creators who have left their mark in world cinematography are awarded for their lifetime achievements, a retrospective of the most famous directors is presented and the most interesting works of feature and documentary filmmakers of that year are carefully selected.

According to the organizers, the festival pays special attention to films that stand out for their cinematic resolution and the importance of the subject. “A. Stonytė’s “Mammoth Hunt” immediately intrigued me with its subject and way of telling. The film talks regarding the totalitarian pressure experienced by artists during the occupation, revealing the power of censorship that destroyed people’s lives, when talented artists were forced to leave even their own country.

Photo of the organizers/Shot from the movie “Mammoth Hunt”.

I am convinced that today it is extremely important to share such a historical experience, to remind people not only of the theater, but also of the general public,” says festival curator Viera Langerová.

“The really great and sincere attention of the audience, which “Mammoth Hunt” receives not only in Lithuania, but also abroad, is very important not only for the film itself, but also for the dissemination of the history of our country, which dared to resist the occupation regime. Viewers in both the United States and Europe received the film very sensitively, and were moved by the drama of the main character’s fate, which unfolds in this multi-layered documentary story,” say the film’s producers, Arūnas Matelis and Algimantė Matelienė.

A little earlier, the premiere of the film took place in the United States, at the Sarasota International Film Festival. “We are very pleased to be able to include Mammoth Hunt in the Sarasota Film Festival program. This is an incredible detective story and a story regarding the courage of the director J. Juras to resist the Soviet authorities. The director convincingly interweaves these two lines to remind us of the attitude of Lithuanian artists, which might be an example for people all over the world even today”, said Brian Gordon, the festival’s program organizer, following the film’s premiere.

According to A. Stonytė, the American premiere of the film exceeded all expectations. “Flying to present the film across the Atlantic, of course I was worried regarding how the audience would receive the film’s story on the other shore. Will it be understandable to an audience that did not live under the occupation? In Lithuania, I communicated more than once with the audience, who did not hide their tears and emotions following the screening. I didn’t expect that the foreign audience would accept the film with the same emotion,” says the director of the film.

Photo of Tomas Adamavičius/Aistė Stonytė

In Sarasota, the film was incredibly popular because, according to festival organizers, it was the rare event that tickets to the film were sold out a week before it was shown.

“Many Lithuanians from New York, Boston or Washington came to the premiere of the film in Sarasota. A large American audience also gathered. I also got a lot of viewers at the Chicago Lithuanian Film Festival. After the screenings of the film, I realized that for all viewers who once chose or were forced to choose a life in emigration, the film resonates from another perspective. They most identify with the theme of exile that appears in one of the lines of the film,” says A. Stonytė.

The film “Hunt of Mammoths” is a detective story in which the drama of the fate of director Jonas Juraš, who dared to resist Soviet censorship, unfolds. Forced to leave the theater and his homeland, the director faces the painful truth following many years.

The producers of the film are Arūnas Matelis and Algimantė Matelienė (Studio Nominum). The production of the film was supported by the Lithuanian Film Center, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, LATGA.

The presentation of the film and the authors’ participation in the festivals were supported by the Lithuanian Cinema Center.