Tomas Vengris grew up the son of Lithuanian immigrants in Washington, DC. He received his BA from Columbia University. After working as a corporate consultant for a year, he decided to drop everything and pursue his lifelong passion of filmmaking. He began working as a film editor, including collaborations with several internationally acclaimed writer/directors such as Terrence Malick, Kelly Reichardt, and Lena Dunham. Soon after he completed his M.F.A in Directing at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA. His AFI Thesis film, the short Kalifornija was a national finalist in the Student Academy Awards, distinguished as one of the best narrative student films in the United States. His following short Squirrel premiered in the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival. Motherland is Tomas’ feature directorial debut. It was shot and edited in Vilnius, Lithuania.