Lithuania has selected Andrius Blaževičius’ How to Divorce During the War as its official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (see the news). The decision was made by the Lithuanian national selection committee approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, according to the Lithuanian Film Centre.

Blaževičius’ third feature arrives in the Oscar race after an already impressive international journey. The film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where Blaževičius won the Directing Award. The Sundance jury praised the filmmaker’s handling of the story, noting how his “subtle observation holds a mirror up to our contradictions without neglecting the humanity of his characters”.

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Set in Vilnius in February 2022, the film centres on Marija (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė), an ambitious advertising executive who tells her husband, Vytas (Marius Repšys), a filmmaker struggling to find his place, that she wants a divorce. The conversation takes place just before Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, bringing the couple’s private crisis into collision with a geopolitical upheaval unfolding close to Lithuania. Their daughter Dovilė is played by Amelija Adomaitytė.

According to Lithuanian selection committee chairman and filmmaker Ignas Miškinis, one of the main arguments in favour of the film was precisely this combination of immediacy and universality: the background of the war is intertwined with recognisable experiences of anxiety, uncertainty about the future and the collapse of a relationship.

That balance between intimate observation and the wider political reality was also central to Blaževičius’ approach to the movie. Speaking to Cineuropa following its Sundance premiere (see the interview), the director explained that he deliberately avoided pushing the material towards melodrama, instead maintaining a certain distance from his protagonists: “I wanted to create this place for the viewer to think more about what is happening." He began writing the screenplay in March 2022 and was particularly interested in reflecting on how people living in relative comfort respond to a war taking place nearby, as well as on the tension between genuine solidarity and more performative forms of engagement.

The Sundance prize proved to be only the beginning of the film’s international run. Since its premiere, How to Divorce During the War has screened at almost 20 international festivals, including Göteborg, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Karlovy Vary, Washington and Las Palmas. Blaževičius subsequently received another directing gong in Hong Kong, while the film picked up a Special Jury Prize in Uruguay and the Silver Lady Harimaguada at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. There, the jury praised the way the movie reflects an external conflict through the increasingly uncontrolled consequences of its characters’ personal and professional decisions.

Produced by M-Films in Lithuania, How to Divorce During the War is a co-production with Luxembourg’s Red Lion, Ireland’s Feline Films and the Czech Republic’s Bionaut Films. New Europe Film Sales handles its world sales.

The shortlist for the Best International Feature Film Oscar is due to be announced on 15 December, followed by the final nominations on 21 January 2027. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 14 March 2027.