Oaks of Ožkabaliai

Ožkabalių ąžuolynas
Lithuania
2024
Documentary
19 min.

Directors | Rimantas Oičenka, Audrius Antanavičius
Script | Rimantas Oičenka, Audrius Antanavičius
Operator | Nojus Drąsutis
Editing | Rimantas Oičenka, Audrius Antanavičius
Sound designers | Auksė Jurevičiūtė
Composer | Eitvydas Doškus
Producer | Rimantas Oičenka
Production company | The National Museum of Lithuania, Studija Kinema

 

In the spring of 1989, in the birthplace of Jonas Basanavičius, the village of Ožkabaliai, the Lithuanian National Revival Oakwood began to be planted. Inspired by the spirit of the Sąjūdis movement and the quest for independence, thousands of people from all over Lithuania, carrying saplings and national tricolors, came to participate in the planting.

Today this oakwood stands as a symbol of the Lithuanian nation’s struggle for freedom.

 

About the director:

Rimantas Oičenka became passionate about cinema while watching classic films at the Vilnius Ozas cinema hall. In 2017 he made an amateur short documentary “Too Good for Hollywood” about the long-time film projectionist of the Ozas cinema hall Valdemaras Isoda. The premiere of his second short film “The Trip” (2022) took place at the Warsaw International Film Festival, where the film received a Jury Special Mention.

In 2013, Audrius Antanavičius graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre with a Bachelor’s degree in TV and Film Directing. In 2015, he created his first short documentary film “The Amateurs“. Continuing work in documentary filmmaking, in 2024, he co-directed the short documentary “Oaks of Ožkabaliai“ which explores the story of the Lithuanian National Revival Oakwood.