Home / Arts and Entertainment / Lithuanian Icon Juozas Budraitis Awarded Lifetime Achievement at Tallinn Film Fest
Lithuanian Icon Juozas Budraitis Awarded Lifetime Achievement at Tallinn Film Fest
31 Oct
Summary
- 85-year-old Lithuanian actor Juozas Budraitis to receive Lifetime Achievement Award
- Budraitis has appeared in over 120 film and TV roles since 1966
- Tallinn fest to screen two films featuring Budraitis, including a biographical documentary
On October 31, 2025, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) announced that Lithuanian screen and theater legend Juozas Budraitis will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival's 29th edition. The 85-year-old actor, who has been dubbed "the James Dean of the Baltics," has been active in the industry since 1966 and has appeared in more than 120 film and television roles.
Budraitis is renowned for his versatile performances, ranging "from revolutionaries to kings, including notable performances in Estonian cinema." Some of his most notable roles include the Soviet production "Wounded Game," which screened at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival, and a small part as an old chess player in the final episode of the Anya Taylor-Joy-starring Netflix miniseries "The Queen's Gambit."
In tribute to Budraitis, the Tallinn festival will screen two films featuring the veteran actor. The first is Nerijus Milerius' biographical documentary "Old Man's Journeys," which offers a "portrait of Baltic film and theater icon Juozas Budraitis, revisiting his roles, places and friends, on and off screen." The second is Mantas Verbiejus' "Sand in Your Hair," in which Budraitis plays a "memorable supporting role alongside two other Lithuanian icons: Jūratė Onaitytė and Liubomiras Laucevičius."
