VILNIUS: Lithuanian/American director/writer/editor Tomas Vengris is currently in postproduction with Barracuda, which he calls “a film about judgement of others and judgement of ourselves”. Barracuda is a Lithuanian/Italian/Latvian coproduction.
The film tells the true story of Loreta Gedvilaitė, a Lithuanian émigré who in 2019 sued her husband’s murderer for calling her a “barracuda” on national television. Seeking 3,000 EUR and a public apology, she turned the courtroom into a spectacle and battleground. As her past (love, betrayal, fame) is dissected, the trial exposes her need to be seen as a “good woman” in a society eager to judge. When the case collapses, the real verdict falls on her.
“One of the central figures of the film is among the most notorious criminals in Lithuania, who is currently serving a life sentence. During development, we met him in prison after months of negotiations with the police department and the Ministry of Justice. Sitting face to face with someone widely defined by a single narrative is disarming. A conversation is only possible if you suspend hostility. That encounter shaped the tone of the production”, Lithuanian producer Emilija Sluškonytė told FNE.
The film was produced by Emilija Sluškonytė through Lithuania’s AUSTRÈ STUDIO, and coproduced by Leonardo Barrile through Italy’s Samarcanda Film and Dominiks Jarmakovičs through Latvia’s Locomotive Productions.
The financing includes 42,000 EUR for development and 635,000 EUR for production from the Lithuanian Film Centre, 450,000 EUR in Lithuanian tax incentives (2024–2025), a 15,000 EUR Baltic-Italian Development Prize awarded to the Lithuanian producer at When East Meets West (Trieste), a 275,000 EUR delegate producer/private equity loan, a 60,000 EUR pre-sale to TELIA Play, and 28,960 EUR from LRT.
International contributions include 87,000 EUR from the Latvian National Film Centre and a 25,000 EUR investment via Locomotive Productions (Latvia), as well as 51,000 EUR in regional support from Emilia-Romagna through coproducer Samarcanda Film (Italy), with additional support from the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC – Ministero della Cultura) pending.
The total budget of the film amounts to 2,080,000 EUR.
The film was presented at MIA Co-Production Market (Rome, 2020), participated in MIDPOINT Institute’s Feature Launch Programme (2020), won the Baltic-Italian Development Prize at When East Meets West (2021), was presented at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the KVIFF Eastern Promises programme (2022), was selected for the Heart of Europe International TV Festival & Forum (Warsaw, 2022), and it was also presented in Works in Progress at both the Warsaw Co-Production Forum and Kino Pavasaris Meeting Point (2025).
Principal photography took place in four production blocks between 2024 and 2026, across Lithuania and Italy. Estonian DoP Rein Kotov is lensing.
Latvian composer Artūrs Liepiņš is in charge of the score and Mārtiņš Straupe, also from Latvia, is the production designer of the film.
Postproduction is ongoing, and the film is scheduled to be completed by the end of Spring 2026.
Kino Pavasaris will release the film in Lithuania at the end of 2026.
Tomas Vengris is a Lithuanian/American filmmaker. He received his BA from Columbia University and completed his M.F.A. in directing at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA
Production Information:
Producer:
AUSTRÈ STUDIO (Lithuania)
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Coproducers:
Samarcanda Film (Italy)
Locomotive Productions (Latvia)
Credits:
Director: Tomas Vengris
Screenwriter: Tomas Vengris
DoP: Rein Kotov
Editor: Tomas Vengris
Composer: Artūrs Liepiņš
Production Designer – Mārtiņš Straupe
