Los Angeles-based Cineverse, the U.S. distributor of “Terrifier” and “The Toxic Avenger,” has partnered with Fandor to acquire all North American rights to the Lithuanian Weird Wave thriller “Prelude.”
The film is scheduled to be released on digital and Fandor early next year.
“Johac” by Lithuanian award-winning producer Urjana Kim, who has been collaborating with Arif since 2019’s “Sikvenezia Parthenon”, had its world premiere at the 2024 Tallinn Critics’ Pick Competition. It made its North American debut at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies Series in New York this summer.
Directed by Lina Ruzite and Nerijus Mirelius, “The Fire” begins with Lina (Zygimante Jagstaite), a city mortuary employee, dissatisfied with the attitude of the deceased’s estranged wife who comes to identify the body.
Lina begins investigating, but as clues lead her to a grim port town in Lithuania, she becomes fascinated by the phenomenon of “jōtsu” (Japanese term for individuals who choose to disappear without a trace). The film asks where Lina’s search will lead her. Some mean people don’t want her to find the missing man. But the film asks, “What is she really looking for?”
Luzite has made two feature films, the most recent of which, Together For Ever, was selected by Karlovy Vary (2016) and The Castle (2020), and has since made two documentaries, the latest of which was filmed in Moria, Europe’s largest refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Millelius’ documentary “Exemplary Behavior” about prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, co-directed by Audrius Mikevicius and Nelijus Millelius, won three awards at DOK Leipzig, including the Golden Dove and the Fiplessi Award.
“Why do people seek to escape from their comfortable daily lives and erase their traces from a world that has been prepared for them?” Luzite and Milerius asked in a director’s statement. “Determined” does not mean a temporary diversion or a need for retreat, but a fundamental change when one’s entire history and oneself are erased. That’s exactly why Lina’s character is so precious to us. ”
In the Lincoln Center program notes, The Prologue is described as “a seemingly restrained thriller that finds horror in the impossibility of truly knowing our fellow human beings, the puzzling ambiguity of their motives and actions, and, perhaps most frightening, the nagging realization that our own deepest, most personal truths may likewise be unknowable.”
“The Fire is a beautifully crafted film that, with its striking visuals and meticulous direction, creates an atmosphere of quiet unease. Lina Luzite and Nerijus Milerius have created something haunting, mysterious and deeply human. It’s a work of art that stays with you long after it’s over. It’s exactly the kind of bold, original filmmaking that our audiences crave, and we’re thrilled to bring this remarkable piece to Fandor audiences early next year.” Eric Rowe, Cineverse Executive Director of Programming, said:
“We are thrilled to be working with Cineverse and Fandor at an exciting time for independent film,” said Brett Walker, president of AliLeaf.
