A long while back, we reported on filmmaker Romas Zabarauskas’ promise to send nude selfies to anyone who donated to his Kickstarter for an upcoming project, an offer that had us pulling out our wallets.
Well, a few years—and presumably countless d*ck pics—later, You Can’t Escape Lithuania was made. The film was a true auteur passion project, one that blended the autobiographical (its lead character’s name? Romas Zabarauskas) with the outré and experimental.
This queer drama concerns itself with a roadtrip unlike any other: A young director attempts to flee the country with his star actress, Indre, after she kills her mother, bringing his Mexican immigrant boyfriend, Carlos, along for the ride.
While on the road, Romas begins improvising a film on the fly, shooting Indre with his smartphone. But as the project coaxes secrets out of all three passengers, the film and the pilgrimage become wilder than Romas ever imagined.
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Set in the eponymous Lithuania, where queer people have historically faced scrutiny and outright hostility, Zabarauskas’ film is a heady blend of sex, art, and politics. It follows in the footsteps of his previous directorial efforts, We Will Riot and the short Porno Melodrama, both of which explored queerness within the context of the country’s anti-LGBTQ landscape.
You Can’t Escape Lithuania made its premiere in the U.S. in 2016, and then spent the following year playing the international festival circuit. While it’s currently available to stream through Dekkoo, or to rent/buy via Vimeo’s VOD service, an upcoming screening opportunity has us eager to revisit this unique film.
On August 11, it will receive a special presentation at New York’s The Bureau, a queer independent bookstore located within Manhattan’s LGBT Community Center. Better still, Zabarauskas will be there in person for a post-screening Q&A (which will also be broadcast virtually on The Bureau’s YouTube channel).
You can watch the trailer for You Can’t Escape Lithuania below. And, for those in the New York area interested in attending the screening, you can check out the event info and score tickets at the link here.
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