Lithuanians in the News
20th August, 2006
Lithuanian Documentary Film Achieves Outstanding Success
Arūnas Matelis at SilverDocs 2006
The feature length Lithuanian documentary film "Before Flying Back to Earth" ("Prieš Parskrendant į Žemę") continues to impress audiences around the world, leaving them with a deeply moving experience. It was produced by the acclaimed Lithuanian film director Arūnas Matelis and deals with children receiving treatment at a Lithuanian cancer clinic. The film has already been shown in the major documentary film festivals in the world, has acquired many accolades and has by now received 10 awards. Just recently on July 19, 2006, the film was shown on Danish TV first channel DR1 and achieved exceptional audience participation and a very sympathetic viewer response.
The film has encouraged the start of charitable actions in Japan, USA and Holland. According to Atsushi Makimoto, a leading specialist at the Japanese national cancer centre pediatrics section: "Lithuania has found a weapon against cancer. It is this film.". For a comprehensive article on Arūnas Matelis please see the article on him in the Lithuania / Famous People section on this SLIC website.

Sources:
www.lrytas.lt 17/07/06   www.bernardinai.lt 20/07/06   www.nominum.lt