2019 Lithuania; 91 min; director Jurgis Matulevičius
Three friends, separated by war and emigration, Andrius, Gediminas and Elena, meet again after twenty years. During the war, Andrius committed a terrible crime. After his return to Lithuania, Gediminas wants to make a film about the massacre of Kaunas Jews at the Lietūkis garage in 1941. Andrius realizes that in order to start living again he would have to make amends for what he did in the past. The film, based on the short story of the Lithuanian émigré writer, Antanas Škėma, tells a story about friendship and love and delves into the participation of Lithuanians in the Holocaust. The film combines elements of a detective and Soviet thriller.
“Isaac” is Jurgis Matulevičius’s debut feature film. The film received the highest recognition in 2020 when it was selected among the six best European debut films at the prestigious European Film Awards and was screened at the US Slamdance Festival.