Lithuania’s Romas Zabarauskas Opens Screen Doors for LGBT Storytelling in Eastern Europe
Nick Holdsworth Breaking into the world of filmmaking is never an easy prospect. And when you are a queer filmmaker who wants to focus on LGBTQ subjects, and lives in a traditional, Catholic, former Soviet Eastern European country, the bar to success is set pretty high.
Romas Zabarauskas’ career proves that with grit, determination — and, as he says, “no bitterness” — it is possible to create your own path on the international stage.
The 32-year-old producer and director — currently in production of his first English-language feature, “The Writer,” the second in a trilogy of films examining gay relationships — says being in the public spotlight as a queer filmmaker is a “complex issue.” “In Lithuania, the reality of my country is complex; on the one hand, here I am engaged to my fiancé Kornelijus, but we cannot get married because Lithuania does not recognize same-sex partnerships, but on the other hand, I am here in Berlin for the Producers Showcase, funded by the Lithuanian Film Centre,” he said.
His latest film, “The Lawyer,” which tells the story of a gay advocate’s relationship with a Syrian web-cam performer and the first of a planned trilogy, received public funding in Lithuania.
