The Mammoth Hunt

In 1968 Lithuania, the collapse of the communist regime is still 21 years away — but dissent is already growing. In that year, acclaimed theater director Jonas Jurašas directs a scandalous, avant-garde, allegorical and thinly-veiled anti-Soviet production entitled “The Mammoth Hunt.” The performances play to packed houses, until word gets back to Moscow. Soon the play is condemned as anti-Soviet and abolished from the repertoire, leading Jarasas and his family to leave the country for America (eventually to Sarasota) to continue his career. But within its cancellation is another act of defiance — two months after its final performance, a cast locks themselves within the theater to film the play. Filmmaker Aistė Stonytė’s The Mammoth Hunt revisits the history of the production, gathering recollections from its surviving participants and attempting to track down the secretly recorded film, while also following Jurasas’ new life in the U.S. and his return to Lithuania in a post-Soviet world. In doing so, Stonytė tells an incredible story of creativity, bravery, and the life of a talented theater director.

RECOGNITION

Silver Crane award for Best Documentary at the Lithuanian National Film Awards