Project by Urbonaite ’16 in Berlin film festival

Gabriele Urbonaite '16 has a project in the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, which begins Thursday, February 5. (Photo by Dan O'Brien)

A film project by Gabriele Urbonaite ’16 is one of only nine worldwide selected for a workshop at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, which begins this Thursday, February 5.

Back is currently in the script development stage, Urbonaite said, adding that she plans to shoot the film this summer in Vilnius, Lithuania, her hometown.

“Back is a short drama about a young actress who comes back to her hometown of Vilnius from Hollywood and discovers that both the city and its people have changed,” said Urbonaite, a Visual and Media Arts major who lives in Cambridge.

Urbonaite’s pending film is her thesis project under the supervision of Professor Cristina Kotz-Cornejo.

“I feel extremely honored because the competition is very high,” Urbonaite said. “I’m also very proud to be one of the 20 filmmakers representing the United States in Berlinale Talents.”

Urbonaite said Back was selected for the Berlinale Talents Short Film Station Workshop at the Berlin festival, where she will be a participant for the second time in three years.

In 2012, Urbonaite was included in the festival’s general summit, where she made contacts and met key collaborators for The Swimmer, a short film she made later that year. The Swimmer was selected for several international film festivals and won awards at the National Lithuanian Film & TV Awards; the Women’s Independent Film Festival of Los Angeles; and the Brest European Short Film Festival in France.

In addition to attending film classes, networking, and “watching as many new films I can squeeze in” at the Berlin festival, Urbonaite said she was also invited to a reception at the U.S. Embassy in Germany with other filmmakers.