BEHIND THE CAMERA

Film crew photo

„Forest of the Gods" : impressions and facts

• "Forest of the Gods" is already the third film of director Algimantas Puipa and producer Robertas Urbonas. Previous projects were "A Wolf Teeth Necklace" (1996) and "Elze‘s Life" (1999).
  
• "Forest of the Gods" was shot in a record -breaking period – only 36 days...
  
• While shooting "Forest of the Gods" actor Valentinas Masalskis had to forget his personal life. Back from set he would read his lines and the rush to the capital for his plays in the thatre.
  
• The producer of the film Robertas Urbonas jokingly calls himself a "concentration camp specialist" because this is the fourth concentration camp built for a film he produced. In two of them - American "Devil’s arithmetic" and "Forest of the Gods" – he played an SS officer.
  
• The hurricane "Ervinas" which visited the seaside on the 24th of December was "kind" to the decoration of Stuthof in Medsedziai and let it get away only with broken gates and a leaning guard tower.
  
• During the filming four languages were used on the set: Lithuanian, Spanish, polish, English… and a universal language – film slang, which was understandable to everyone.
  
• Staying in a hotel V. Masalskis tries to make the atmosphere as close to home as possible: buys food products, a plate. He says he’s had a "hotel allergy" for a while now.
  
• 30 thousand meters of film stock were used during the filming, 2.5 thousand of which stayed in the final cut. These days this proportion is a big luxury to a film director as there is less and less film stock spoilage.
  
• The film script was written by A. Puipa 15 years ago. Now, that "Forest of the Gods" is finished filming he calls himself a contemporary of B. Sruoga – his is of the same age now as professor was when he came back from the Stuthof concentration camp.
  
• Extras in the film were exceptional – some had to shave their hair off, some had to be naked. To avoid Stuthof looking like a student camp not many blonds and young people were let on set.
  
• "Forest of the Gods" is almost a family film. The second director of the film – a wife of A. Puipa Janina Lapinskaite. Their son a Film Production student Kristijonas Puipa also worked on set. Together with the producer Robertas Urbonas his son Marius Urbonas, a film student in Berlin, also worked on the film as well as  Robertas Urbonas' brother Edvinas Urbonas, SFX coordinator. 
  
• The two newlyweds in the film were married by a real priest from Kretinga who said jokingly that their marriage will be valid after the film as well.
  
• A famous british actor Steven Berkoff who plays commandant Hope is also known as a playwright and writer. He has written 20 books and 9 plays.
  
• In the filmography of the editor of "Forest of the Gods" – 30 action films. Among them – 7 about the famous James Bond and "Doctor Zhivago".
  
• Even the two German shepherds of Valentinas Masalskis Poco and Coli became actors. They were dogs of the concentration camp guards.