There are many filming locations in Vilnius: the BBC is also starting to film

The scripts of the film projects currently being filmed in Vilnius are really creative and full of challenges. The stories told cover various time periods, and the twists and turns of the plot take you to unexpected locations. The complex Malmö scenes of the Netflix detective series "Young Wallander" were filmed in Šeškina and Fabijoniškės, the Norwegian series "Lykkeland" and the BBC Two documentary "Rise of the Nazis" ) and the aforementioned Netflix series are being filmed Vilnius University, Vilnius Gediminas University of Technology, Lithuanian Railway Museum, Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, Alexander Pushkin Literary Museum, PC CUP, Loft courtyards, Writers' Union, Peronas bar and other places.

"In order to fulfill creative scenarios, location scouting is looking for visually correct locations. Interestingly, the most unexpected offers are usually the most interesting for developers. It is important to mention that even the directors, cameramen and producers of several foreign projects return to Vilnius to film for the first time, so sometimes we receive location offers from them as well. For example, during the filming of the first season of Young Wallander in 2019, when the world had not yet been gripped by a pandemic, the cameraman of the series liked to ride a bicycle around the city and saw many different places in Vilnius, so now, when creating the second season, sometimes a specific filming location or district is mentioned. It is interesting to see how Vilnius is seen by filmmakers from other countries, and they unanimously agree that Vilnius is very cinematic. I think that the abundance and variety of filming locations perfectly proves that," said Jonas Špokas, head of "Baltic Locations", how the locations were selected for filming.

According to Marshall Leviten, the producer of the Netflix series filmed in the capital of Lithuania, 95 percent filming of the series takes place in Vilnius: "It's a pleasure to return to work in Vilnius. The entire film crew is working hard to make things run smoothly. The locations are friendly, the crew are professional and the hospitality both at work and everywhere else is fantastic. I would like to personally thank the hotel "PAC"For the employees who are hosting our team for the second time, we feel at home here."

However, according to producer M. Leviten, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought great challenges to the entire film industry in the world. Now, work planning takes much longer, filming locations require constant monitoring and control of compliance with security protocols.

"Human testing is done every day of filming. Before entering the filming location, it is mandatory to register, fill out a health form, and KN95 face masks (respirators) are issued to the person, which must be worn on the location at all times, except when eating, and of course, except for the actors and the crowd during the performance. Actors are specially protected, for self-explanatory reasons - they cannot be replaced, so if an actor goes, all other team members must leave and keep a safe distance", - Lithuanian film production company Artbox also supports the observance of Covid-19 safety protocols on the set. producer Violeta Drazdauskė, responsible for the filming of the Norwegian series "Land of Happiness".

As V. Drazdauskė tells, on the set people are divided into separate social bubbles, taking into account the specifics of their specialties, so that some do not meet others, which is not necessary. It is also requested, if at all possible, not to walk around the shops during the free time from work, but to shop online, not to contact other farms.

"What's good is that, in accordance with such safety requirements, filming has been taking place since the summer of last year, so people are already used to being safe and keeping their distance. Of course, we also have a separate Covid-19 management team, which ensures that people on the set follow safety protocols, wear masks, surfaces are disinfected every day, rooms are cleaned, indoor rooms are disinfected with steam," said the producer.

Such safety requirements, of course, make the filming process more expensive - due to restrictions on the number of people in cars, more vehicles are rented, more tents are erected, which means that more parking spaces are requested in the city, and a larger area is fenced off in order to safely conduct filming.

The Vilnius Film Office informs about ongoing filming in the city:

1. from April 5 at 14 p.m. until April 6 2 hours filming will take place in the courtyard of LOFT (Švitrigailos st. 29), from April 1. 9 o'clock until April 7 2 hours 22 places on Vytenios Street and 5 places on Panerių Street are reserved for filming purposes, from April 1. 16 p.m. until April 7 2 hours 22 parking spaces are additionally reserved on Panerių street;
2. April 7 14 to 23 p.m. filmed on the territory of VGTU (Saulėtekio al. 18), placing a generator and two lifts on the lawn next to the pedestrian path, leaving a passage for pedestrians;
3. from April 7 20 p.m. until April 8 2 hours filmed in the courtyard of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania (38 Gedimino Ave.) and next to the building, prohibiting vehicle traffic in the part of Vasario 16th Street from Gediminas Avenue to Pamėnkalnis Street;
4. from April 8 at 14 p.m. until April 9 2 hours filming will take place near PC CUP (Upės st. 9), from April 7. 13 p.m. until April 9 2 hours 8 parking spaces are reserved near the mentioned building.
5. from April 9 at 14 p.m. until April 10 2 hours filmed in Švitrigailos st. 1, from April 8 16 p.m. until April 10 2 hours 16 parking spaces are reserved on Švitrigailos street;
6. April 13 6-21 p.m. filming will take place in the Writers' Union, vehicle traffic is prohibited in St. Jurgios Street and from April 12. at 14 p.m. until April 13 21 p.m. 8 parking spaces are reserved;
7. April 13 15-21 hours filming will take place at the A. Pushkin Literary Museum (Subačiaus str. 124), 6-21 p.m. 14 parking spaces on Pavilnio Street are reserved for filming purposes;
8. April 14 11 a.m. to 23 p.m. filming will take place in the bar "Peronas" (Geležinkelio str. 6), 14-20 p.m. during the shot, pedestrian traffic is restricted for a short time (up to 3 minutes) on the pedestrian bridge over the railway, from April 13. 9 o'clock until April 15 2 hours 30 parking spaces are reserved on Geležinkelios street;
9. April 14 6 a.m. to 15 p.m. filmed at the Lithuanian Railway Museum (Geležinkelio str. 16), from April 13. at 17 p.m. until April 14 at 17 p.m. 20 parking spaces are reserved near the mentioned building;
10. April 14 14-21 p.m. filming will take place at the VU Faculty of Medicine (MK Čiurlionio str. 21), during the shoot from 14-21 p.m. for a short time (up to 5 minutes) pedestrian traffic is restricted in front of the mentioned building, from 6:21 a.m. to 15:XNUMX p.m. XNUMX parking spaces are reserved on MK Čiurlionios Street;
11. April 15 17-21 p.m. filming will take place at Vilnius University, 6-21 p.m. St. Jono st. 10 parking spaces are reserved;
12. April 22 8 a.m. to 19 p.m. filming will take place next to the building in P. Vileišio st. 18N, during the shot, vehicle and pedestrian traffic is restricted for a short time (up to 7 minutes) in the part of P. Vileišio street from the building at P. Vileišio st. 18A to 18N. From April 8 at 15 p.m. until April 22 22 p.m. to park cars on the side of the road in the mentioned part of P. Vileišios Street.