RUTA | Feature film

Unseen, unheard, unknown

Cinematographer Ronaldas Buožis and photographer Rokas Darulis recently presented a trailer of Rūta this month. It’s less than two weeks already till their film will disclose the unseen side of the young Olympic champion from Lithuania.

The makers state: “Viewers will get to know how the swimmer prepared for the 2016 Summer Olympics and will witness stories told by the swimmer herself and her family members. The film will tell the story of her childhood, the path to the Olympic gold medal in London and other unknown details of her life.”

Says Darulis: “We sought to tell the overall story about Rūta, not only to document her preparation for Rio. She is very inspiring and has an extraordinary personality. Her work ethics and persisten ce could be an example for each of us. Also, in order to objectively judge her performance in the last Olympic games, a broader story of her should be known. We hope that we revealed it successfully.”

Filming Started On The Way To Rio

The crew behind the camera started their work during the summer of 2016, when Meilutyte was preparing to defend her Olympic crown in Rio. The filmmakers came up with the idea of the documentary when they were both living in London.

Says Darulis: “We were contemplating about creating a movie together. Rūta was preparing for the Olympics during that time. She is our mutual friend, and we thought that it would be interesting to capture her preparation. It was very interesting to show, what is going on during the peak of Rūta’s career. We presented the idea to her and she instantly agreed. We didn’t know that it will take us almost two years, but now we see that it was worth it. We are happy to reach the finish line.”

The crew captured Rūta’s daily life at her home, in the swimming pool and in the gym, at Plymouth College in Britain when she was being guided by the coach who steered her to Olympic gold in 2012, Jon Rudd.

Buožis and Darulis filmed 5am starts, multiple workouts a day, including morning and evening swim sessions and an evening gymnastics session. They accompanied the swimmer and her coach to Tenerife for her final training camp before the Olympics – and then, a year later, met up with her again at the European short-course championships in Copenhagen.

There are scenes from home life in Lithuanian, with location shots in Kaunas, Vilnius and Nida.

More at: www.stateofswimming.com