Karolis Jankus

Biography

Karolis Jankus is a transdisciplinary artist who treats the act of filmmaking as a radical form of performance art. His practice is defined by the deconstruction of traditional cinema, shifting the focus from the final industrial product to the raw, ephemeral process of creation. Jankus’s trajectory as a moving image artist was shaped by a resistance to conventional narrative, a journey that gained significant momentum in 1997 with his work in Paris, Ils vous baisent la main. This early exploration of social tension and the "atmosphere of hate" established his signature approach: using the camera not merely as a recording tool, but as a provocative witness and an extension of the artist's body. After founding the independent studio "Eurofilmai," he became known for a series of surreal and controversial works, including Dead Body Asks for Help and the feature film Jesus from Lithuania, which achieved cult status after being banned for its radical aesthetic and social defiance. Currently, Jankus is the driving force behind the VRAI CINEMA (True Cinema) movement. In this framework, the filmmaking process is reclaimed as a live, performative body-art form. He operates under the principle that the "set" is a space for uncontrolled, co-creative transformation, where the boundary between the creator, the performer, and the medium disappears. By moving cinema into the expanded field of contemporary art, Jankus presents his work as immersive video installations and durational performances, challenging the very definition of the moving image.