lithuania
Artbox
Company Profile
Established in 2003, ARTBOX is one of the leading film production companies in the Baltic region. ARTBOX works with new talents as well as experienced artists, focusing on productions and co-productions with wide international appeal. Films produced by ARTBOX have been screened and won awards at numerous international film festivals. In addition, ARTBOX provides a full range of shooting services for companies around the world.
The founder of ARTBOX, Kestutis Drazdauskas, chairs the Board of Directors of the Baltic Film & Creative Tech Cluster and the Supervisory Board of Vilnius Film Office. He is also a Board Member of the Independent Producers Association of Lithuania and the Film Policy Council.
Kestutis was one of the founders of Vilnius Film Cluster (now the Baltic Film & Creative Tech Cluster), which brings together more than 20 companies across Lithuania’s audio-visual industry. The organisation lobbied successfully for the establishment of tax incentives for film production in Lithuania, which have been in effect since 1 January 2014.
Born in Vilnius in 1970, Kestutis graduated from Vilnius University in 1994 with a Master of Arts in English Language and Literature, and in 1995 began working in the film industry as an Assistant Director. He began producing in 1998, and has since become one of Lithuania’s most active producers, with numerous fiction and documentary films to his name.
Kestutis recently completed the co-production film JANUARY (dir. Viesturs Kairišs, co-production between Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and won Best International Narrative Feature award. JANUARY later won The Best Director award at Warsaw International Film Festival and Best film and Best Director at Rome Film Fest. In 2020, Kestutis co-produced a World War II drama, THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE (dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.), which ranked #1 on Netflix in autumn 2021.
Company Highlights
THE CASTLE 2020
Genre: Drama
Director: Lina Lužytè
Screenplay: Lina Lužytè
Cast: Gabija Jaraminaité, Barbora Bareikyté, Jùraté Onaityté, Andrei Ciopec, Martyna Peszko
When a once-in-a-lifetime concert opportunity is cut short by her mother, teenage singer Monika will stop at nothing to pursue her dream.
Galway Film Fleadh
THE SIGN PAINTER (AKA CITY ON THE RIVER) 2019
Genre: Drama
Director: Viesturs Kairišs
Screenplay: Viesturs Kairišs
Cast: Dàvis Suharevskis, Agnese Cirule, Brigita Cmuntova, Juozas Budraitis
Ansis is a signboard artist whose skill is in demand under all regimes: the authoritarian rule of the 1930s, followed by the communists and the Nazis. Ansis is also caught up in a curious love triangle. While in love with a Jewish girl, Zisla, whom he cannot marry for religious and social prejudices, he falls for a Latvian girl, a newcomer in town, who quickly takes initiative in the affair. Ansis’ relationship with the two young women becomes explosive after Zisla falls victim to Nazi persecution. Not only does Ansis have to choose between his two lovers – he literally has to decide who lives and who dies.
GATE TO HEAVEN 2019
Genre: Historical Documentary
Director: Drama
Director: Jivan Avetisyan
Screenplay: Artavazd Yeghiazaryan, Mko Malkhasyan
Cast: Tatiana Spivakova, Richard Sammel, Leonardas Pobedonoscevas, Sos Janibekyan, Naira Zakaryan
Robert, a 50-year-old German journalist, returns to Artsakh in 2016 to cover a war. During his journalistic investigation, Robert meets Sophia Marti, a young opera singer who happens to be the daughter of the missing photojournalist Edgar Martirosyan whom Robert abandoned in captivity during the fall of the village of Talish in 1992. Robert and Sophia’s frequent rendezvous ignite a passionate romance.
TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE 2017
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mike van Diem
Screenplay: Mike van Diem, Peter van Wijk
Cast: Ksenia Solo, Giancarlo Giannini, Donatella Finocchiaro
After losing his farm during the floods of 1953, a romantic Dutch farmer is tired of getting his socks wet. He cycles to Italy and decides to grow tulips in the sweltering heat of Puglia.
Italian Contemporary FF: People’s Choice Award
Sonoma IFF: Audience Choice Award
Washington DC Filmfest: Best Feature Film - Audience Award
Victoria FF: Best Feature Award
Terra di Siena FF: Best International Film Award
Tallinn Black Nights FF: Audience Award
Netherlands FF: Opening Film
Toronto FF: Worldwide premiere
