Before Flying Back to the Earth
Encyclopedia
Before Flying Back to the Earth (originally released in Lithuania
as Prieš parskrendant į žemę in 2005) is the first feature-length documentary film
by the Lithuanian film director Arūnas Matelis
. In a lyrical, yet unsentimental fashion, it shows the lives of children hospitalized 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. Before Flying Back to the Earth is the most highly acclaimed recent Lithuanian film and is considered one of the best documentary films of 2005 in the world; it has been shown in numerous festivals. The film is in the Lithuanian language
.
night on February 3 in Los Angeles
for Before Flying Back to the Earth. It has become only the second film from Eastern Europe
, since Roman Polanski
's The Pianist
in 2003, to win an award in the ADG; it is also the only film from the region of Central
and Eastern Europe to have been nominated for Best Documentary. The film has won many other awards and nominations, including the following:
The film was nominated for the European Film Academy
Best Documentary Award of 2005 and was submitted for the 79th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2006.
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
as Prieš parskrendant į žemę in 2005) is the first feature-length documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by the Lithuanian film director Arūnas Matelis
Arunas Matelis
Arūnas Matelis is an acclaimed Lithuanian documentary film director. From 1979 till 1983 Arūnas Matelis studied Mathematics at Vilnius University and later in 1989 graduated from the Lithuanian Music Academy. In 1992, he established one of the first independent film production companies in...
. In a lyrical, yet unsentimental fashion, it shows the lives of children hospitalized with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
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
Psychological resilience
Resilience in psychology refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function...
of (the) human spirit". Its laconic style and its formal simplicity have been likened to haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
by some critics. Before Flying Back to the Earth is the most highly acclaimed recent Lithuanian film and is considered one of the best documentary films of 2005 in the world; it has been shown in numerous festivals. The film is in the Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
.
Awards
Arūnas Matelis was awarded the Best Director award in Documentary Feature category during the Directors Guild of America Awards 2006Directors Guild of America Awards 2006
The 59th Directors Guild of America Awards, were given on 3 February 2007, honoring the best film and television directors in 2006.-Film:*Best Director - Motion Picture:**Martin Scorsese - The Departed*Best Director - Documentary Feature:...
night on February 3 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for Before Flying Back to the Earth. It has become only the second film from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, since Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's The Pianist
The Pianist (2002 film)
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
in 2003, to win an award in the ADG; it is also the only film from the region of Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Eastern Europe to have been nominated for Best Documentary. The film has won many other awards and nominations, including the following:
- Best Lithuanian Film 2005 by Lithuanian Filmmakers Union
- Silver Wolf in International Documentary Film Festival AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(IDFA), 2005 - Golden Dove in International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated FilmInternational Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated FilmThe International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film , also known as the Leipzig DOK Festival, is a film festival that takes place annually in Leipzig, Germany. It was founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Documentary Films" and was the...
, 2005 - Main Prize in Festival Documenta MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 2005 - "Spirit Award for Documentary" in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
International Film Festival, 2006 - Grand Prix in PärnuPärnuPärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
International Film Festival, 2006 - Special Jury Mention in SilverdocsSilverdocsAFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C.. Started in 2003, the festival is held for eight days in June at...
Festival, 2006 - Veliki pečat international competition award in ZagrebDoxZagrebDoxZagrebDox is an international documentary film festival established in 2005 and held annually in Zagreb, Croatia.It is the biggest festival of its kind in South East Europe and its goals are to showcase documentary films from the region as well as to provide a meeting place for authors from all...
Film Festival, 2006
The film was nominated for the European Film Academy
European Film Academy
The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988.- European Film Academy :...
Best Documentary Award of 2005 and was submitted for the 79th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2006.