A portrait of Baltic film and theatre icon Juozas Budraitis, revisiting his roles, places and friends, on and off screen.

Maestro Juozas Budraitis recently celebrated his 85th birthday, yet he still seems to be only 58. The beloved and vibrant actor journeys through memories, feelings, secrets, traumas and observations, from his childhood in Klaipėda to his lovely encounter with Slovak actress Zuzana Kocúriková in Bratislava, where he learnt Czech in 1968. He fondly recalls an early role in Veljo Käsper’s “The Girl in Black” in Estonia.

“Back then, you could drive whenever you wanted,” he reminisces. Filmmaker and philosopher Nerijus Milerius (“Johatsu”, “Exemplary Behaviour”) follows the restless actor as he travels by car, train and plane. Juozas jokes that this film should never have been made, yet he wrote the title out by hand himself.

Gabrielė Urbonaitė, director of “Renovation”, edits these candid, melancholic journeys with rarely published old photographs (in one, Juozas bears an uncanny resemblance to James Dean), film excerpts and pictures taken by the actor himself, who never leaves home without a small camera. We hear about the 9 pm phone call with Michelangelo Antonioni regarding the lead role in the film “Technically Sweet” in Rome.

Edvinas Pukšta