Today we’d like to introduce you to Motiejus Barauskas.
Motiejus, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a cinematographer currently based in LA.
Before discovering cinematography, I studied medicine and psychology in the UK and Australia. The experience of not finding fulfillment in the studies guided me towards wanting to liberate my self-expression. Thus I searched for the means to tell my story. Consequently, as one does, I spent months looking for answers in a Zen Buddhist Monastery in Korea, meditating. Having discovered a direction, I relocated to Singapore and immersed into the cinematic language studying at ‘The Puttnam School of Film’. I learned about the means to tell stories through the visual language and found the freedom I sought in such expression. I have followed the path ever since.
In the years following graduation, I worked in Singapore, Europe and India in features, shorts, music videos and commercials.
However, I wished to further delved into the language of cinematography and in 2019, I was the first Lithuanian cinematographer to graduate from American Film Institute. Our graduating film ‘Florence’ (2019) has been in 30 film festivals and won European Cinematography Awards, Canadian Cinematography Awards, Los Angeles Cinematography Awards and New York Cinematography awards for Best Cinematography and Best Short Film as well as ‘The Rusty Casselton Award’ at Fargo Film Festival.
I have been working in LA since graduating AFI.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Mmm. No.
Finding how I wanted to contribute to the world took time. Getting here took time. But, as with anything, one step at a time. It has been a long journey with seemingly wrong directions that somehow conspired into taking me exactly where I want to be. I believe it is those struggles along the way that leaves an imprint on us and thus, we become who we are. There’s not a smooth road in the industry.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
A cinematographer, in my view, is a visual storyteller. Every new project starts with a story and it is the story one must choose to embrace and live and relive from every possible aspect of the character whose story it is. To feel what they feel, to love what they love, to yearn what they yearn, to fear what they fear to inevitably come to conclusions that make them, them.
This has led me to follow the idea of visual empathy. If one is sincere, first with oneself and one’s own experiences, one is able to see clearly. I believe that one must find himself in the memory of the past first in order to become honest with one’s own history.
I attempt to observe from the perspective of the unknown and I believe it is my journey to follow. To see as it is without any attachments. To feel as it is without any judgments. Now. Letting go of all you know. Letting go of all you think you know, to simply be aware. When you enter a room, what do you see? Why do you see that? It’s a much observational journey. In order to see the light there needs to be dark. That is, what in my opinion, makes a great visual storyteller, a visual empath as I call it.
The AFI graduating film ‘Florence’ has been very well received in festivals and has won numerous awards. A short ‘Sviesa’, shot on 35mm film has also been doing well in festivals. It’s always nice to see the effort being appreciated, be it by an award or a tap on the shoulder. However, what truly makes me happy is receiving phone calls from collaborators and the work itself. It is greatly satisfying.
What were you like growing up?
A 2-mile wide strip of land stretching 30 miles called the Curonian Spit brings fond memories of growing up in Nida, Lithuania. The contrast of the salty Baltic Sea and the freshwater Curonian Lagoon divides the wilderness of its nature and the people. The striking landscape of bizarre sand dunes, never ending pine tree forests and unspoiled nature inspired a boundless need to perceive. Growing up with my grandmother provided the freedom to explore its present duality, while my parents made a living in the contrasting capital of Vilnius. At the age of nine, I followed my parents and moved to the capital Vilnius. I was exposed to and quickly learned to adapt to two very diverse lives: learning from journalist photographer father and the business orientation of my mother. In both roles, I assumed the position of an observer rather than a communicator. It was on my ninth birthday that my father gave me a camera and began introducing me to the visual language. With hindsight, the visual means of communicating allowed me to rediscover the intricacies I used to call ‘magic’ growing up amidst Nida’s sceneries. I continued an observer, discovering and uncovering new means to express myself. It was this storytelling that allowed for moments of shared connection within my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.motiejusbarauskas.com
- Phone: 213-929-0184
- Email: m.barauskas@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/m.barauskas/
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