Renovation

Australian Premiere

“Renovation is a curious, delightful beast” - Cineuropa

Ilona and her boyfriend Matas have only just moved in together when renovations begin on the exterior of their Soviet-era apartment building. Constant banging and drilling noises aren’t helpful for Ilona’s already frayed nerves. At 29, she’s feeling pressure to start making decisions about the next stage of her life – marriage, career, starting a family. One day, Oleg, a Ukrainian construction worker, steps onto the scaffolding outside her window. The two strike up a tentative friendship, sparking a creative inspiration in Ilona to start writing poetry. What does this mean for her finely calibrated life?

Shot on warm, textured 16mm, Renovation focuses in on the poetry of everyday moments and captures the confusion of early adulthood with humour, lightness and open-hearted honesty. The feature directorial debut of writer/director Gabrielė Urbonaitė, who is also an accomplished editor, it is simultaneously universal in its exploration of late-twenties anxieties and specific to the experience of Lithuanians, living with the war in Ukraine always in the near periphery.

Festivals & Awards

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2025 – Winner, Baltic Film Competition, Best Director
Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2025 – Official Selection
Sarajevo Film Festival 2025 – Official Selection

This film is co-presented by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Australia