One of the first independent film production companies in Lithuania
Studio Nominum is one of the first independent film production companies in Lithuania – established by Arūnas Matelis – producing documentary films since 1992. Studio Nominum produced films of well known Lithuanian film directors as Arūnas Matelis, Henrikas Šablevičius, Audrius Stonys, Ramunė Rakauskaitė, Arturas Jevdokimovas, Audrius Mickevičius, Domantas Vildžiūnas, Oksana Buraja and others.
Our films have been selected for the Cannes (Directors’ Fortnight, Critics Week), Warsaw, IDFA, Leipzig, Torino, Oberhausen, Rotterdam, Nyon, Silverdocs, Palm Springs, Shanghai, Karlovy Vary, Zagreb Dox and other film festival competitions, film retrospectives presented at IDFA, Leipzig, Florence, Linz, Open Doek, Glasgow film festivals and in the modern art museums MoMA (US) and G. Pompidou (France).
Studio Nominum films received over 30 international awards: Directors Guild of America Award for the Best Documentary, European Film Academy nomination, main documentary prizes at IDFA, Leipzig, Warsaw, Shanghai, Trieste, ZagrebDox, Oberhausen, prizes at Brooklyn, Documenta Madrid and more.
Organizers’ photos
About Arūnas Matelis
Arūnas Matelis, film director and producer, was born in 1961, in Kaunas (Lithuania). He studied several years in Vilnius University, Mathematics faculty and later graduated from Lithuanian Music Academy, Theatre and TV faculty.
Arūnas Matelis is among few European film directors who have been awarded by one of most important US film industry prizes – Directors’ Guild of America (DGA) Award. This DGA Achievement Award for the best documentary went to Matelis for his previous documentary “Before Flying Back to the Earth”. The film has received not only more than 10 highly prestigious awards, including main prizes at IDFA/Amsterdam, DOKLeipzig, European Film Academy nomination, etc., but also has inspired tens of thousands of people for charity actions across the world.
“Ten Minutes Before the Flight of Icarus” – the first short film of Arūnas Matelis was recognized by film critics as a cinema manifest of a new independent generation and won numerous awards, such as the Grand Prix at one of the oldest and the most important International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. The Critic’s Week program at the Festival de Cannes in the year 2005 named this film as one of the six most prominent films in the Central and Eastern Europe created over the past 15 years.
The newest feature documentary film directed by Arūnas Matelis – “Wonderful Losers: A Different World” has received 18 international awards, including Best Documentary at Warsaw Film Festival, Best Documentary at Trieste Film Festival, has been chosen as the Best Lithuanian Film 2017, won 3 Silver Crane prizes at the National Lithuanian Film Awards and others. The film competed for the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film and Documentary Film categories. “Wonderful Losers: A Different World” was the first Lithuanian film digitally released in the top global platforms: iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Orange, Canopy, etc., launched for 90 countries world-wide.
As a producer, Arūnas Matelis has established one of the independent film production companies in Lithuania Studio Nominum and since 1992 has produced or co-produced there over 30 creative documentaries.
Studio Nominum film awards
“The Mamooth Hunt” (2023)
National Film Award Silver Crane “Best Documentary of the year”
“Bridges of Time” (2018)
Shanghai International Film Festival “Best Documentary”
“Bridges of Time” (2018)
Latvian Film Award “Best Documentary of the year”
“Bridges of Time” (2018)
Batumi ArtHouse International Film Festival “Special prize”
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World” (2017)
Warsaw Film Festival “Best Documentary”
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World” (2017)
Trieste Film Festival “Best Documentary”
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World” (2017)
National Film Award Silver Crane “Best Documentary of the year”
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World” (2017)
National Film Award Silver Crane “Best Composer”
“Wonderful Losers. A Different World” (2017)
National Film Award Silver Crane “People’s Choice”
“UB Lama” (2011)
Turkey International TRT Documentary Awards “Best Documentary”
“UB Lama” (2011)
Lessinia film festival, second prize „Lessinia D’Argento“
“Man – Horse” (2008)
National Film Award Silver Crane “Best Cinematographer”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Directors Guild of America award for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Amsterdam International Film Festival main prize “Silver Wolf”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Leipzig International Film Festival main prize of “Golden Dove”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
European Film Academy nomination for “Best European documentary film”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Lithuanian Filmmakers Union award “Best Lithuanian film 2005”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Documenta Madrid International Film Festival Main prize
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
ZagrebDox International Film Festival main prize “Great Seal”
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Silverdocs International Film Festival Special prize
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Brooklyn Film Festival Spirit Award
“Before Flying Back to the Earth” (2005)
Parnu Visual Anthropology Festival Main prize
„Sunday. The Gospel According to lift-man Alberta’s“ (2003)
Lithuanian Filmmakers Union prize “Best Lithuanian film 2003”
“Flight over Lithuania or 510 seconds of silence” (2000)
No.4 in TOP10 Best Films of International Exhibition EXPO 2000 Hanover (Germany)
“From Unfinished Tales of Jerusalem” (1996)
Bornholm TV and Film Festival Special prize
„Ten Minutes Before the Flight of Icarus“ (1990)
37th Oberhausen International Film Festival Main prize
„Ten Minutes Before the Flight of Icarus“ (1990)
Bornholm International Film & TV Festival 3rd prize
„Ten Minutes Before the Flight of Icarus“ (1990)
Parnu Visual Anthropology Festival Special prize
„Ten Minutes Before the Flight of Icarus“ (1990)
In 2005 by Europe European Coordination of Film Festivals (ECFF) was included in the list of six most prominent films of Eastern Europe, created during 1990-2005
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