Contenders to win Best Operator Awards announced | Culture

The nominees were chosen by the commission, which this year consists of its chairman, cameraman Saulius Lukoševičius (LAC) and members: cinematographers Vitalijus Kiselius, Zbigniev Bartoševičius (LAC), film director Jurgis Matulevičius and film critic Monika Gimbutaitė.

Four statuettes will be awarded at the fourteenth edition of the most important celebration of cinematographers: “Ažuolo” – for the best work of a cinematographer, “Gilės” – for the best work of a student cinematographer, the Prize of Gratitude of Operators – awarded to representatives of professions closely related to the work of cinematographers, and a lifetime achievement award merits.

The Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy (LMTA) student awards for representatives of the film industry, which have become a tradition, will also be held, which will be chosen by the LMTA students themselves.

Photo of the organizers/Nominees to receive the “Ažuolo” award_

“When choosing the nominees for ‘Aak’ and ‘Acorn’, we took into account their professional excellence, as well as how much the cinematographer’s work reveals other elements of the film, how the camera helps the film to become an organically compelling work. In the works of the nominees, it was very clear from whose perspective the story is being told, and in order to emphasize certain key points of the script, the operators cleverly used the relevant visual tools”, says the chairman of the commission, Saulius Lukoševičius.

According to the Commission’s decision, the following claim to receive the “Ažuolo” award:

• Laurynas Bareiša for the work of the cameraman in the film “You don’t remind me of anything” (dir. Marija Kavtaradze);
• Vytautas Plukas (LAC) for his work in the film “Poetas” (dir. Giedrius Tamoševičius, Vytautas V. Landsbergis);
• Jacek Podgórski for his work in the film “The Ninth Step” (dir. Irma Pužauskaitė);
• Julius Sičiūnas (LAC) for his work in the film “Per arti” (dir. Austėja Urbaitė).

Photo of the organizers/Nominees to receive the “Gilė” award

The following young cinematographers studying at the Lithuanian Academy of Music are applying to receive the “Gilė” award:

• Dominika Pieczulis for the film “When I was a Malalietka” (dir. Severina Vaičiūnaitė);
• Milda Juodvalkytė for the film “Hubble’s Law” (dir. Arnas Balčiūnas);
• Matas Juškaitis for the film “Procession” (dir. Agnė Girsaitė).

Laura Aliukonytė, chairwoman of the Association of Lithuanian Cinematographers, cameraman, reveals that usually the commission announces three nominees for the “Ėuolo” award, but this year there were a lot of discussions, the opinions of the commission members differed, so it was decided to announce four contenders for this award. Laura Aliukonytė is happy that this year in the above-mentioned category there were a third more applications than last year, and the creators of short feature films were especially active.

This year’s best operators will be revealed already on May 10. During the “Ažuolo” award ceremony, which will be held at the “Meno Avilios” Cinematheque. The awards are sponsored by the Lithuanian Cinema Center and AVAKA, the main partners are Meno Avilys and LRT. The event will be hosted by Rytis Zemkauskas, the “Golden Parazyth” band will perform.