Being the MIOB Network Coordinator for the 2022-2024 edition was my first big international venture. It started jam-packed with responsibilities, moved into anxiety-induced panic, and ended with enough personal and professional growth to last a lifetime. By the end, I walked away with new friends, bigger ambitions, and some sort of an illusion that I can tackle anything now. Here's what I did:✔ Facilitated collaboration across seven international film festivals, driving improvement in joint activities, organized and led weekly online meetings and the annual stakeholder on-site meeting in Vienna, kept network members up to date✔ Managed over €500,000 in Creative Europe MEDIA funding, ensuring activities were on track, reporting to stakeholders and MEDIA. Additionally, secured over €10,000 in co-financing from the Lithuanian Film Centre, managing both budget and reporting✔ Represented MIOB at partner festivals, participated in sustainability workshops, digital communication events, and gender equality trainings. Surprise highlight: was invited to serve as a Jury member at the Bergamo Film Meeting alongside director Michelangelo Frammartino and critic Paola Raiman! 🍦 Sharpened my small-talk and dance moves at Serbian parties, survived Belgrade in July, hiked to a snowy cabin in the Alps for a midnight party, invited Ruben Östlund to Lithuania, explored Linz and Vienna like a flâneur, and nearly got swept away by the winds (and cinemas) of Trieste.About MIOB:Moving Images - Open Borders (MIOB) is a network of seven European film festivals: Crossing Europe (Austria), Palić (Serbia), Cottbus (Germany), Les Arcs (France), Scanorama (Lithuania), Seville (Spain), and Trieste (Italy). Founded in 2017, MIOB promotes European cinema, supports new talent, implements eco-friendly practices, encourages gender equality, and develops strategies to engage wider audiences.

Grateful for a chance to reshape and upgrade a film promotion project, originally titled "Scanorama keliauja po Lietuvą". The challenge? Film screenings in rural regions of Lithuania were failing to engage local audiences, with little to no connection to the community. My solution: a project now called “Scanoramos vasara” that focuses on community-driven cultural engagement. Spent four years working on tailored film programs for each city, collaborating with local artists, theaters, galleries, libraries, etc. and LOVED it!Leaving the project with the results of 2024 that I am super proud of:✔ When I started, the highest amount of public funding received from the Lithuanian Film Centre was €5,000. By 2024, I have managed to increase it to €22,000 and also for the first time attract additional financial support from local municipalities and private companies, adding another €5,500 to the project.✔ The project grew from a few locations to 6 cities—Palanga, Kretinga, Alytus, Šiauliai, Visaginas, and Panevėžys.✔ Hosted 39 screenings featuring 35 feature films and 16 shorts from 16 European countries, including 8 Lithuanian films.✔ Held 33 post-screening discussions, 17 creative workshops, and collaborated with 22 cultural institutions. Organized 2 film camps for high school students, where they created 8 short films.✔ Partnered with 13 unique locations across Lithuania, involving dozens of film professionals and creatives. All events were free of charge.🍦 met a dozen of creative, hospitable and ambitious people across Lithuania and thanks to them was able to screen an experimental film selection at a car garage, bring a sheep to Valdimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb” screening for a quirky family picture, create a film-inspired city exploration guide for Palanga, discuss AI& art aesthetics, and do a hundred of other inspiring things that I’ll always keep close to my heart.

A fun side hustle as the Visual Arts & Crafts Curator and Site Manager for Vilnius City Days in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024—one of the capital's largest events. Responsible for:✔︎ selecting and curating over 100 artists working in ceramics, glass, woodwork design, and other crafts ✔︎ managing communication&issues between artists, organizers, volunteers, the city municipality, and local businesses✔︎ overseeing site management during the event, handling problem-solving, coordinating artists and volunteers, and managing large crowds. 🍦 three active festival days in one of the best cities in the world, surrounded by beautiful arts and crafts, music, sports and the sweet feeling of being part of it all.

Spent most of my autumn evenings watching 150 short 'firsts' that came from emerging filmmakers in 25 countries. Narrowed the list down to 48 for the jury, each differing in length, theme, style, and origin. These gems lit up the screen at the 'Arlekinas' cinema in 'Kultūros fabrikas' on December 17-19, 2021, where an international jury took the job further.I can admit that the jury's voting discussion—led by Jukka Pekka Laakso, a European Film Academy member from Finland, and joined by Paul Nethercott, Alantė Kavaitė, Anna Veilande Kustikova, and Audrius Juzenas—was no less entertaining than all the lovely, creative and fun evenings we had in Klaipėda these couple of festival days.

As the project manager for the international art project MarteLive Europe, I was responsible for the organization and coordination of the project semi-finals event in Vilnius, LOFTAS.The semi-finals featured 48 artworks across 16 art forms and 9 different countries, including live performances of theater, circus, dance, and music, as well as exhibitions of painting, photography, digital illustration, short films, music videos, and video art.

✔︎ Managed the inventorization and documentation of a film archive containing over 11,000 35mm&16mm film titles, dating back to the Soviet era. Worked closely with a film expert group who researched the collection to systematize their findings and prepare documentation for the Ministry of Culture, Lithuanian Film Centre and other institutions to ensure the collection's preservation. Collaborated extensively with key cultural institutions such as the Lithuanian Central Archive, Lithuanian Literature and Art Museum, and Lithuanian Museum of Music, Theater, and Cinema to safeguard as much of the collection items as possible. Additionally, engaged with international archival organizations, including FIAF, to raise awareness about the collection as well as presented it in FRAME trainings to make the best out of the collection. Last but not least, initiated and led public excursions to increase awareness of this valuable cultural heritage, wrote press releases and gave interviews when needed.✔︎ Spent a few summers in Palanga, where I curated the film repertoire for the 'Naglis' film theater, collaborated with film distributors to select and secure films, promoted the film program, and managed the theater’s operations, including ticket sales and visitor relations. Also, handled the theater's social media presence. As the company was preparing for 'Naglis' renovation, I also did a small research on the theater's history, gathering memories from local visitors and historical photographs from archives to inform and inspire its future renovation.✔︎ In 2015, 2016, and 2017, created and managed a socially-oriented film project 'Svečiuose – kinas', aimed at providing free film screenings, workshops and meetings with filmmakers to communities with limited access to cinema and collective viewing experiences, such as rehabilitation centers, refugee camps, elderly homes, etc. To secure financing, wrote the applications for public grants and received the funding for all three years.

In 2012-2013, I led educational tours for the 'Mokausi iš kino' (Learning from Cinema) project at Pasaka cinema theater in Vilnius, aimed at educating schoolchildren about the history of cinema. Each tour was followed by a screening of a selected film from the project.