Jurgis Matulevičius' 2019 drama, Isaac, what is also being called a Soviet style film noir, is having its US premiere at Slamdance. His film centers around the real-life events of the Kaunas pogrom, five days in June 1941, during the first few days of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi occupation of Lithuania.
ScreenAnarchy has been asked to share the new trailer with you today, which you will find below, along with a small gallery of stills.
In 1941, a Lithuanian man kills his neighbor Jew, Isaac, at the Lietukis garage massacre. Twenty five years later in Soviet Lithuania, movie director Gediminas Gutauskas returns from the USA with a screenplay of a film that portrays, in details, the Lietukis garage massacre and describes a particular situation where Isaac, the Jew, is killed. The screenplay is later brought to the attention and investigated by the KGB. Why does a director, who once relocated to the USA, return to Soviet Lithuania? Why is his scenario so unusually historically accurate to the massacre, as though he would have witnessed it himself? Perhaps he knows someone who attended the massacre themselves? The aftermath of the murder returns many years later to cripple life and love. IMDB
The new trailer contains scenes of violence and nudity, each contextual to the different time periods.
We like the choices of moving between color and black & white film stock to represent different time periods. It is clear when the Lietukis garage massacre and Gutauskas' return to Lithuania occur. Also, what's not to like about the choices that Matulevičius and his cinematogpaher Narvydas Naujalis make here? It all looks very good, if we get a chance to see the whole story for ourselves we'll let you know if the story works out too.
Ken DuBow of Access Entertainment is handling North American sales.