OFFICIAL LITHUANIAN ENTRY TO THE 91st ACADEMY AWARDS FOR THE BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM AND BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World"
“Nuostabieji lūzeriai. Kita planeta"
(71min. – Documentary, video, colour – 2017)
AWARDS:
Warsaw Film Festival – Best Documentary 2017
Minsk Listapad Film Festival – Grand-Prix for Best Documentary 2018
Minsk Listapad Film Festival – Audience Award 2018
Lithuanian Filmmakers Union Award – Best Lithuanian Film 2017
Trieste Film Festival – Best Documentary 2018
National Lithuanian Film Awards – Best Documentary 2018
National Lithuanian Film Awards – Best Composer 2018
National Lithuanian Film Awards –People’s Choice 2018
Baltijos Banga International Film Festival – People’s Choice 2018
Ulju Mountain Film Festival – Best Exploration & Adventure film 2018
Kendal Mountain Film Festival – Special Jury Prize 2018
Bilbao Mendi Film Festival – Best Director 2018
Chicago EU Film Festival – Special Mention 2019
Vilnius St. Christopher Award 2019
Sport Movies & TV Milano International FICTS Fest – Honourable Mention 2019
International Sports Film Festival Krasnogorski – Best Director 2019
Nordic Adventure Film Festival – GRAND FONDO Film of the Year 2019
Sheffield Adventure Film Festival – GOLD AWARD Best Bike Film 2020
Director’s Guild of America Award-winning director Arūnas Matelis (“Before Flying Back to the Earth”) returns after 12 years of creative silence with his new documentary feature WONDERFUL LOSERS: A DIFFERENT WORLD.
This is the first time in over 40 years, an independent filmmaker outside of the broadcast networks who has been allowed to film behind the scenes an exclusive insider look at the notorious and celebrated Italian Grand Tour Cycling race Giro d’Italia.
Filmed over several years, Arūnas Matelis and his crew joined the medic teams to reveal the unseen footage of the riders at the back of the race – the so-called “water carriers,” “domestiques,” “Gregarios” – who forego their careers and personal victories for the sake of victory for their leader. Its heroes are athletes undertaking the most difficult challenges, while remaining in the shadow of leaders, without the right to personal victory. Through their sacrifice, they pave the way to victory for the band’s stars, becoming a universal symbol of sacrifice.
It is another amazing intimate film from Arūnas Matelis, who won the Director’s Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary in 2006 for his poignant story about young souls grappling with leukemia in Lithuania. In WONDERFUL LOSERS, Matelis again features the less public side to understand the harsh sacrifices and the selflessness of the enduring teammates to compete in this prestigious and punitive race that covers over 2,000 miles.
Written and directed by: Arūnas Matelis
Script researcher and consultant: Edita Pučinskaitė
Directors of photography: Mark Olexa, Audrius Kemežys, Ivars Zviedris, Arūnas Matelis, Simone Rivoire, Valdis Celmins, Griodano Bianchi, Giacomo Becherini
Editor: Mirjam Jegorov
Composer: Alberto R Lucendo
Sound mix: Raf Enckels
Designers: Kostas Radlinskas (colour correction), Jonė Zakaraitė (visual effects)
Sound: Raf Enckels, Kostas Radlinskas, Arūnas Matelis
Produced by: Arūnas Matelis and Algimantė Matelienė (Studio Nominum/Lithuania)
Co-produced by: Elena Filippini, Stefano Tealdi, Edoardo Fracchia (Stefilm/Italy), Mark Olexa, Francesca Scalisi (Dok Mobile/Switzerland), Bram Crols, Mark Daems (Associate Directors/Belgium), Uldis Cekulis (VFS Films/Latvia), Deaglan O Mochain (Dearcan Media/Northern Ireland/United Kingdom), Jeremiah Cullinane (Planet Korda Pictures/Ireland), Rafa Moles, Patricia Velert, Pepe Andreu (SuicaFilms/Spain)
Executive producers: Valentina Castellani and Eleonora Jonusiene