Andrius Blaževičius’ “How to Divorce During the War” has been selected as Lithuania’s entry for the Academy Award for best international feature film.
Blaževičius’ third feature won the directing award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie was picked up for theatrical distribution in the U.S. by Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber and will be released on Aug. 21.
Set in Vilnius in 2022, it’s a story of a high-flying executive Marija, who chooses the worst possible moment for an honest conversation with her husband Vytas about divorcing – just one day before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine goes into full scale. Now the couple must navigate the process of separation as it collides with a refugee and mid-life crisis.
The film played in more than 30 festival competitions, winning prizes in Hong Kong, Las Palmas and Uruguay. It has sold to multiple countries, with world sales handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.
The selection, announced Tuesday by the Lithuanian Film Centre, was made by Lithuania’s National Selection Committee, and has been approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
