Andrius Blaževičius (born 26 June 1985) is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Biography

Andrius Blaževičius was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. He studied cultural history and anthropology at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

for one year before pursuing studies in film direction at the

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported College or university school of music, conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts. History Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a ...

, where he earned a master's degree in 2011. During his studies, he directed six short films, including a documentary. Andrius Blaževičius worked as an independent filmmaker and, since 2010, as a programme director for the

Vilnius International Film Festival The Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF) Kino pavasaris is a film festival held annually in March in Vilnius, Lithuania since 1995, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films and audience. It is one of the most anticipat ...

in Lithuania. In 2011, he wrote and directed his last short film, '' Ten Reasons'', in collaboration with producer

Marija Razgutė Marija Razgutė (born 26 June 1985) is a Lithuanian film producer and the founder of the production company M-Films. Biography Marija Razgutė was born on 26 June 1985 in Klaipėda, Lithuania. She initially studied business management but l ...

and the production company M-Films. This project won two awards from the Lithuanian Film Academy. In 2016, Blaževičius directed his first feature film, '' The Saint''. Still accompanied by

in production (M-Films), the project premiered at the

Warsaw International Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival (; WFF), also known as Warsaw International Film Festival, is an annual international film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland. The 40th edition of the festival will take place from 11 to 20 October 2024. Histor ...

and the

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

and won six national awards from Lithuanian Cinema Academy. This film became one of the highest-grossing independent Lithuanian films with 47,000 admissions at the national box office. Blaževičius wrote and directed his second film, '' Runner'', in 2021. This third collaboration with

and M-Films premiered at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

in 2021, and the lead actress, Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, received the Shooting Star Award from the European Film Institute. '' Runner'' also received two awards from the Lithuanian Film Academy, for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Blaževičius has served as a jury member at various international film festivals, including the

, FeKK, Sleepwalkers, and ZubrOFFka. He is also a reader at the Lithuanian Film Centre and a member of the selection committee for the

since 2010.

Filmography

Director

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: ''While Andrius Blaževičius Was Young and Inexperienced'' (short film) *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: ''The Death of McCaulay Culkin'' (short film) *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: ''Vytautas'' (short film) *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: ''Bergen'' (short film) *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: ''A Story of a Deportee Exiled by her Own Father'' (documentary short film) *

: '' Ten Reasons'' (short film) *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: '' The Saint'' (feature film) *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: '' Runner'' (feature film)

Accolades

References

External links

*
Press Kit
for the film ''Runner'' at the

2021.
Presentation
as a Jury Member at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blazevicius, Andrius Living people 1985 births Lithuanian film directors Lithuanian screenwriters Vilnius University alumni Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Writers from Vilnius