18-11-2020

FNE at Baltic Event 2020: Lithuanian Director Ernestas Jankauskas in Postproduction with I Am Fine, Thanks

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    I Am Fine, Thanks by Ernestas Jankauskas I Am Fine, Thanks by Ernestas Jankauskas photo: Audrius Solominas

    VILNIUS: Lithuanian director Ernestas Jankauskas is in postproduction with his second fiction feature I Am Fine, Thanks / Man viskas gerai, produced by Gabija Siurbytė and Greta Akcijonaitė at DANSU. The film will be presented at Baltic Event Work in Progress taking place as part of this year’s online one-week summit for film and audiovisual industry professionals, held during the Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF, on 23 - 27 November 2020.

    The film was shot in September – October 2019 in Vilnius and its surroundings.

    I Am Fine, Thanks tells the story of a charismatic neuroscientist Maria, who returns home after two months of treatment of anxiety and panic attacks, and finds a bumpy return to her normal life. A colleague removes Maria from the research which she has been working on for so many years, her mother is in hospital, and her fiancé is pressuring her to finally start planning their own family. As the tension builds up, the panic attacks return and carry Maria to a frightening and dark world where she has to face her own self.

    “With this film I want to raise the question – does someone with imperfections deserve to be loved? Perfection is a new religion nowadays. Panic attacks are an expression of internal suffering, which accumulates within a person and suddenly explodes. It’s like a doorbell. The main conflict of the film takes place between Maria and her closest ones - her family. Maria can no longer be just a ‘handy tool’ in someone else’s hands. She wants to be accepted and loved for what she really is – imperfect, and not always sane. In the film, mystique is blended in with reality. Two worlds contrast and compete”, director Ernestas Jankauskas told FNE.

    The screenplay is written by Birutė Kapustnikaitė. The cast includes Giedrė Mockeliūnaitė, Donatas Šimukauskas, Dovilė Kundrotaitė, Gabija Siurbytė, Andrius Paulavičius, Nelė Savičenko.

    Jankauskas has directed over 40 award winning commercials for a large number of global brands. His short film The Queen of England Stole My Parents / Anglijos karalienė pagrobė mano tėvus (2014) won best short film award at the National Film Awards and several prizes at festivals, and was the first short film distributed in Lithuanian cinema chains. His first feature film Sasha Was Here / Čia buvo Saša (2019) was selected to premiere at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn and was picked up for a wide domestic release in 2019.

    I Am Fine, Thanks participated in the virtual edition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) “Eastern Promises” Industry Days. The film’s budget is approximately 750,000 EUR, including a 378,000 EUR grant from the Lithuanian Film Centre.

    The release is expected in 2021.

    Production Information:

    I Am Fine, Thanks by Ernestas Jankauskas, photo: Audrius SolominasDANSU

    Credits:
    Director: Ernestas Jankauskas
    Producers: Gabija Siurbytė, Greta Akcijonaitė
    Cinematographer: Feliksas Abrukauskas
    Editor: Dominykas Kilčiauskas
    Production Designer: Paulius Jurevičius
    Costume designer: Fausta Naujalė
    Cast: Giedrė Mockeliūnaitė, Donatas Šimukauskas, Dovilė Kundrotaitė, Gabija Siurbytė, Andrius Paulavičius, Nelė Savičenko, Marius Repšys, Mija di Marco