11/07/2025 - We talked to the Lithuanian director about her debut feature, hinging on a couple who move into a new flat amidst renovation works that upend their lives

Set in modern-day Lithuania, Renovation [+see also:
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interview: Gabrielė Urbonaitė
film profile] sees 29-year-old Ilona (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė) move into a new flat with her boyfriend, Matas (Šarūnas Zenkevičius), and the future seems bright. But soon, with the exterior of the building undergoing renovation, Ilona – working from home all day – begins to doubt this future. When she meets Oleg (Roman Lutskyi), a Ukrainian construction worker who is part of the renovation crew, her perspective begins to change.

Gabrielė Urbonaitė’s film examines the gap between expectations and reality that many millennials face across the world, as they try to find happiness but discover that life has a way of disappointing us. But it also explores the specificities of those in the former Soviet Union, still wrestling with the trauma of the past and facing up to a present in which war and conflict seem closer to home than ever before.

The film, which has had its world premiere as part of the Proxima Competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, marks Urbonaitė’s debut feature after a number of well-regarded shorts, including 2013’s The Swimmer, which netted her Best Short Film at the National Lithuanian Film Awards, the Silver Cranes.

Cineuropa: You have said that it was a viewing of a classic Krzysztof Kieślowski film that helped this movie come into existence. Can you elaborate?
Gabrielė Urbonaitė: The idea came to me right after watching [his 1979 film] Camera Buff. There's no direct connection, but Kieslowski's focus on relationships and urban landscapes spoke to me. I felt that he knew the obsession of the main character very well, and that provided me with the spark to write something I know well, too.

You shot on 16 mm. How did that change how you approached filming, practically? Did the limitations help or hinder you?
The cost of shooting on 16 mm limited the number of shooting days – we shot the movie in 19 days, plus one for documentary-style observation. We managed thanks to my extremely professional crew, but it wasn’t a lot of time. On the other hand, shooting on film demands thorough preparation, precision and a focus on set that I really enjoy. I like rehearsing a lot in advance and not doing many takes on set, so shooting on film feels right to me. I also think there's something magical about the way celluloid captures not only light, but also the energy that people bring onto the set.

How did you cast the leads? The feature is very dependent on their chemistry.
I have worked with Šarūnas Zenkevičius before on two of my shorts, so I wrote the character of Matas with him in mind. I discovered Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė during the regular casting process – I loved the restraint that she brought to Ilona. As for Roman Lutskyi, I saw him in Reflection [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Valentyn Vasyanovych
film profile] by Valentyn Vasyanovych and immediately knew that I had found my Oleg. With Žygimantė and Šarūnas, we worked closely for four years on script development, getting to know each other. Roman joined us for rehearsals two weeks before the shoot, and my intuition was right – he brought the warmth that Oleg's character needed to have.

How did you find the flat in which you filmed? It’s almost an extra character in itself.
It's so nice to hear that, as that was the idea. I'm interested in the way architecture or the space around us affects us, so it was important for me to find the right apartment. The architect who renovated the flat shared some photos of it on social media, and that's how I noticed it. The owners didn't intend to rent it out at first, but then they agreed to let a film crew in for almost a month, which I'm very grateful to them for. It really became like a second home for all of us for the duration of the shoot.

What do you think you’ll be working on next?
I'm currently working on a personal documentary about art and family that should be finished next year.