Biodestructors
Date:
December 15, 2022
Biodestructors
Biodestructors
by Aistė Žegulytė
Studio Uljana Kim | Lithuania
To Be Continued | France
Studio Locomotive | Latvia
Documentary | 2nd feature
*the access to our meeting platform and director’s previous works will start from January 10, 2025
Logline
Through an immersive journey, Biodestructors explores the unseen, delving into humanity’s struggle to preserve against microfungi’s relentless decay, revealing a deep connection between creation and destruction.
Synopsis
Fascinated by the unstoppable force of microscopic life, Biodestructors delve into the ongoing battle between humans and microfungi—tiny organisms, including fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
As restorers and bioarcheologists work tirelessly to preserve art and historical artifacts, microfungi persistently consume these treasures, eroding their materials and stories. Can humanity ever triumph over time and decay? The film captures the collision of two powerful forces: human curiosity and the microfungi’s relentless drive to thrive. Instead of portraying biodestructors as mere adversaries, it examines their profound connection to the human experience, revealing the intricate, unseen interactions and confrontations that unfold daily.
Biodestructors offers an immersive, sensory journey where creation and destruction are inseparable forces, perpetually shaping and transforming the world around us—leaving behind only new forms of existence.
Director’s Profile
Aistė Žegulytė studied photography and film directing.
She explores human relationship with nature in its various forms, in its all variety and complexity.
Her first long-form documentary, Animus Animalis, premiered at the DOK Leipzig Film Festival. The film has already visited many festivals around the world: the CPH: DOX, the Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF), the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the Hot Docs, and many more.
Fascinated by the microscopic fungi and mould, she has been working on new documentary film Biodestructor since 2019.
Company Profile
Lead producer is Studio Uljana Kim, a leading company in Lithuania, with 34 feature and documentary films produced / coproduced since 1997, including “Kiemas” by Valdas Navasaitis (1999, Cannes IFF – Director’s Fortnight), “You am I” by Kristijonas Vildžiūnas (2006, Cannes IFF – Un Certain Regard), “Parthenon” by Mantas Kvedaravičius (2019, Venice Critics Week), “Mr Landsbergis” by Sergei Loznitsa (2021, IDFA Best Film Award), “Mariupolis 2” by Mantas Kvedaravičius (2022, Cannes IFF Special Documentary Jury Prize; European Documentary Award at European Film Awards), “The Natural History of Destruction” by Sergei Loznitsa (2022, Cannes IFF, Special Screening).
To Be Continued, coproducer in France, is an independent collective production house with an editorial line of art house – “cinéma d’auteur” projects that have a strong commercial value, both demanding and accessible. Feature films include “Onoda, 10 000 nights in the jungle” by Arthur Harari (2021, Opening film Un Certain Regard at Cannes IFF, French academy award for best screenplay), “All the Gods in the Sky” by Quarxx (2018, BFI, Austin, …), “Land” by Babak Jalali (2018, Berlinale), “Hannah” by Andrea Pallaoro (2017, Venice – Mostra award for best actress to Charlotte Rampling, TIFF…), “Rock’n’roll… Of Corse!” By Lionel Guedj & Stéphane Bébert (2010, Cannes IFF – Out of Competition, SXSW…), “Blind Sun” by Joyce A. Nashawat (2015, TIFF – Creativity in Cinematography award, BFI, …), and others.