PLOT
Three Lithuanian taxidermists prepare their exhibits
for the upcoming European Taxidermy Championships®. They peel the animal fur,
separate the boiling meat from the bones, clean them up and completely
deconstruct the animal skeleton to restore the live beast posture as accurately
as possible.
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A lonesome taxidermist Kestutis searches for inspiration by wandering
into the forest, taking pictures of wild flowers and rare kinds of moss. His
most famous work is a 5-meter-long stuffed giraffe. A museum worker Vasilijus,
who at the moment is teaching his son to be a taxidermist, claims that his most
precious masterpiece is an androgynous pheasant. Master Darius is obsessed by
Indian culture. He still hunts animals with bow and arrow. Darius is best known for his stuffed porcupine,
a co-creation with his South African wife.
Now, all three men plan to rent a vehicle in order to reach Finland and
the taxidermist competition.
This is a film about the people who are not afraid to
turn into beasts and the beasts that slowly turn into things, grounded in the
idea of restoring a life that no longer is.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES?
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Travel expenses. Everybody knows that travelling is not cheap, especially when your journey companions are 12 stuffed animals. YOUR contributions will help our film heroes take more stuffed animals to the Taxidermy Championships®.
Equipment rental. Even the wild porcupine knows the difference between 4K and 2K resolution. Talking about all those animals and nature itself, we want to look top notch.
Editing and post-production. Every taxidermist and every stuffed animal should have their 60 minutes of fame at least once in their lifetime.
Music. Even animals love to dance.
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WHAT IS TAXIDERMY FOR US?
The film tells us about taxidermists who are preparing for the upcoming
European Taxidermy Championships®, but there is more to the story than that.
Taxidermy masters try to reconstruct the animals they are working on, as
if imparted by God-like powers to change the laws of nature. When they try to give the stuffed animal a more truthful
pose or livelier look, they want to return to the animal the same life, which
was taken from it. The paradox is that the life they
try to capture and keep no longer exists.
With
this film we want to transfer the viewer to the strange reality that engulfs
taxidermy laboratories and exhibitions, to question that reality and to look
for the answers. We want you to wonder why man sees in an animal only an object
instead of a living animal such as oneself; to ask what is behind the desire to deconstruct an animal, so as to
recreate it anew and to own it?
CREW
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Director Aistė Žegulytė. After dedicating
herself to Photography studies in 2006-2009, Aiste got into the film directing program
at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre academy. In 2015, Aiste finished her Master’s
and since then has been working on her new project “People, Animals and Things”,
which will be her first feature-length documentary.
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Scriptwriter Titas Laucius. He studied
Cinema dramaturgy at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre academy. Now Titas is
working as a screenwriter and a scriptdoctor on various theatre, cinema and TV projects.
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Cinematographer Vytautas Katkus. He studied
at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre academy. Now Vytautas is a two-time
national award winner for the best young D.O.P and he’s not looking to stop
there.
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Producer Giedrė Burokaitė. In 2008, Giedrė
started working in cinema education field as a projects coordinator, since 2012 she's working as a production coordinator on feature films. In 2015 Giedrė finished film production studies and got MA degree. Her debut
short film was hand-picked for worldwide distribution by Adastra films
(France). She has produced a number of short films and is currently working on
her first feature and a short animation.
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Composer Gediminas Jakubka met music at the very early age. Trained as a classical guitar musician later enrolled in Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater to study sound engineering. Active as a musician, DJ, sound designer and engineer, often works with contemporary dance and cinema. From time to time appears as a lecturer in various workshops. Fields of interest - psychoacoustics, sound effects and non-conventional usage of instruments.
PERKS
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
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