HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR director Andrius Blaževičius joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss Lithuania’s official Oscar submission and his Sundance-winning drama about marriage, Ukraine, propaganda and moral compromise.
Marija tells her husband Vytas that she wants a divorce on February 23, 2022. The next morning, Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Blaževičius uses the fracture of one family to reflect a larger crisis: a Europe divided by fear, political polarization and the temptation to choose personal comfort over collective responsibility.
In this extended conversation, he discusses the atmosphere in Lithuania during the first months of the invasion, political divisions within families, changing gender roles and the challenge of finding bittersweet humor in people attempting to behave honorably—and failing their own ideals.
He also takes Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge inside the film’s remarkably natural performances and explains why the couple’s young daughter becomes its quiet witness, seeing far more than her parents understand.
HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and is Lithuania’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
00:00 A Marriage and a Continent in Crisis00:08 Introducing HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR01:00 INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE01:30 The Conversation Begins02:04 Building a Story Around Divorce and War04:03 Lithuania’s Fear: “We’re Next”05:37 When Political Division Enters the Family07:31 Comfort vs. Collective Responsibility09:40 HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR Official Trailer11:40 Making the Political Personal14:29 Weak Men, Strong Women and Changing Roles17:41 Performances That Feel Like a Documentary21:31 Finding Humor in Difficult Times24:41 Characters Who Fail Their Own Ideals28:50 Dovilė: The Child Who Sees Everything31:32 Why the Film’s World Looks So Gray34:42 Choosing Comfort Over Truth37:12 Sundance, the Oscars and the Film’s U.S. Release38:40 Closing
The film is now playing in U.S. theaters.
Tickets, theaters and more information:https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/how-to-divorce-during-the-war
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