The nominees for the ‘Ažuolas 2021’ awards for Lithuanian cinematographers have been announced

‘Ažuolas’ awards organized by the Lithuanian Association of Cinematographers (LAC) for more than a decade, continue the tradition of honouring and evaluating the best in cinematographic excellence. The awards will take place in a virtual format – nominees will be invited to a round table discussion with other film professionals. The audience will be able to see a total of three round table discussions, the recordings of which will be available on the 18, 23 and 25 February at the LRT media library.

The “Ažuolas” (which means “Oak tree” in Lithuanian) statuette, symbolizing maturity and creativity, is presented every year to the best cinematographer of the year, and the “Gilė” (which means “Acorn”) award recognizes the best work of the year by a young cinematographer. As many as 17 Lithuanian feature-length films and short films, narrative and documentary films, which officially premiered in 2021, participated in the competition. A total of 6 films have been nominated for this year's awards – 3 in the "Gilė" and 3 in "Ažuolas" categories.

Nominees for the "Gilė" 2021 award:

·       Meida Lileikytė (“I Was Max”, directed by Lukas Kacinauskas)

·       Nojus Drąsutis (“The Last Time”, directed by Rinaldas Tomaševičius)

·       Oskaras Abramavičius (“Dance”, directed by Danielius Minkevičius)

Nominees for the "Ąžuolas" 2021 award:

·       Feliksas Abrukauskas, LAC (“Cinephilia”, directed by Algimantas Puipa)

·       Narvydas Naujalis, LAC (“Runner”, directed by Andrius Blaževičius)

·       Vytautas Plukas, LAC (“People We Know Are Confused”, directed by Tomas Smulkis)

Such a decision was announced by the jury of "Ažuolas 2021", which consisted of cinematographers, LAC members, Algimantas Mikutėnas, Audrius Budrys and Tomas Vilys, as well as director Dovilė Šarutytė and film critic Rasa Paukštytė, who also served as the chairperson of the jury.

The aim of the round table discussions is not only to celebrate the growth of Lithuanian cinema and the creativity of cinematographers, but also to draw the attention of the public, especially the young generation, to the professionals who create films. In this way, the hope is to make the audience interested in the art of cinematography, to introduce it to the intricacies and complexities of the craft, as well as the behind-the-scenes of filmmaking.

The first conversations with the young cinematographers nominated for the "Gilė" award will be available to view on the LRT media library on 18 February, and on 23 February it will be possible to watch the discussion with the “Ažuolas” nominees. The announcement of the winners of the nominations is scheduled for 25 February. In addition to the main awards, LAC will traditionally present a statuette for Creative Lifetime Achievement and the Cinematographers' Appreciation Award, which honours professions closely linked to the work of cinematographers.

Photo by Vytautas Juozėnas