Isaac (Lithuanian: Izaokas) is the first feature film by Lithuanian director Jurgis Matulevičius. It is the first feature film that deals with the participation of Lithuanians in the killing of Jews during the Holocaust.[1] The drama is based on the last novel of the same name by Antanas Škėma before his death in 1961.[2] It was selected as the Lithuanian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.[3][4]
Isaac is drama about a Lithuanian activist haunted by the guilt of killing a Jew in the Lietūkis garage massacre in June 1941.[5]
Antanas Škėma wrote the novel in 1960–1961, but it attracted little attention. It was first published in a volume of his collected works in 1985. It was republished as a separate work in 2018.[2]
The film was made in Lithuania by the Film Jam production company. The filming took place in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda and lasted about two and a half years.[2]
Its world premiere happened in November 2019 at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.[6] In 2020, it was nominated for the Discovery prize at the European Film Awards.[7]
In 2020, it was shown at the Glasgow Film Festival, at the Riviera International Film Festival and at Eastern European Film Festival Cottbus (Germany).[8][9][10] In October 2020, Isaac was also named second best film and Matulevičius was selected best second best director at the 19th Imagineindia International Film Festival in Spain.[11]
Lithuanian National Radio and Television said that the film was "the most surprising" at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and praised the film for its anti-war message.[12]
Stephen Dalton writing for the Hollywood Reporter noted that such a confident and sophisticated work deserved a wider audience beyond the usual niche demographic for subtitled art house fare".[13]