On the eve of the final four of the Euroleague, on May 18, the premiere of the film “I am Dainius Novickas” was held in Vilnius. Rimvydas Čekavičius and Julius Bliūdžius presented the film about the Lithuanian basketball symbol 3×3.
The premiere was attended by childhood friend and basketball friend of D.Novickas at Forum Cinemas Vingis. Among the guests were also famous figures – Paul de Miko, Tadas Juodsnukis, Petras Daunys, Benas Lastauskas, Mantas Bertulis, Rytis Sabas, Diana Zagainova, Akvilė Žirgulytė, Justina Nemanytė, others.
According to the makers, the film fulfills the dream of everyone who grew up on their backyard basketball court to become a basketball player and a hero of their country. Although the unique path of basketball did not lead D. Novick to professional basketball, it still brought him closer to incredible heights – the possibility of entering the Olympic Games.
“This film talks about how basketball can shape a person’s life, even if it does not lead to professional sports. Even though life itself is full of challenges, including a difficult childhood, various temptations. This is a film about basketball dreams that many Lithuanians had to action inside themselves “, says the creator of the film, J. Bliūdžius.
“I think that in Dainius, everyone who dreams of basketball can find a part of themselves, even if some of us had a very low ceiling in basketball. Only most of us hit the ceiling, buried that dream a. And Dainius found a space, which makes his story unique,” says R. Čekavičius, who directed the film, and in 2014 created a documentary about Arvydas Sabonis – “Sabonis 11”.
D. Novickas was born in 1978 in Kėdainiai, in an antisocial family. A poor kid interfered with him from opening the doors of a basketball school, but his love for Lithuania’s second religion protected him from life’s mistakes. Independent basketball talent did not attract the attention of professional clubs, but he ran wild in amateur leagues and street basketball tournaments. He became the Lithuanian 1×1 champion, and scored 152 points in an amateur league match. His scoring record and fierce character made him a symbol of amateur basketball for more than a decade. Finally, he realized himself in 3×3 basketball.
Always participating in 3×3 tournaments, D. Novickas got to know this branch of basketball like no other. When 3×3 basketball officially became part of the Olympic program in 2017, it was he who was responsible for reviving the Olympic hopes of this discipline – the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) appointed D. Novickas as the coach of the national team. Without such work action, but with a unique knowledge of 3×3 basketball. D. Novicka’s career as a coach of the national 3×3 team started impressively – he won the bronze medal at the European Championship. nonetheless, the main eyes were on Tokyo – a well-deserved ticket to the Olympic Games would be historic for Lithuania, and a dream come true for the self-taught basketball player from Kėdainiai. The film tells the story of this 3×3 basketball family’s journey and reveals the portrait of D.Novick as a coach who had to take authority among professional basketball players.
The creative team of the film: J. Bliūdžius (author of film idea and script, producer), R. Čekavičius (director, script author, producer), Emilis Šimkus (cinematographer), Ervinas Mitkus (director of editing), Marta Gliožaitytė (executive producer).