Latvian Directors in Short Format
Thursday, October 24, Riga Film Museum, 16:00 - 17:30
The program Latvian directors in short format compiles four stories about woman, brought to us by four wonderful woman directors. In this programme there will be our most famous director Laila Pakalnina, one of the most important contemporary artist Katrina Neiburga, one of the most experienced directors Inara Kolmane and the upcoming young director Astra Zoldnere.
Ūdens / Water, Laila Pakalniņa, fiction, Latvia, 2006, 12 min
Sarmītes / Sarmītes, Ināra Kolmane, fiction, Latvia, 2001, 18 min
In the mid – 1960’s, Latvia was a part of the Soviet Union. People lived identical lives, listened to the same radio stations. Children wore the same boots and ate the same porridge every morning. Their dreams and desires for something different were the only things that set them apart from each other. For little Dace this is a moment where her childhood’s happiness turns into time for growing up.
Traffic / Satiksme, Katrīna Neiburga, documentary, Latvia, 2003, 18 min
Video installation, documentary video film, part of the film was taken with video surveillance cameras that were specially mounted in a taxi.
My son was born not too long ago and I had not been out of the house for 3 months. Mrs. Milda, a neighbor from my childhood, was a taxi driver and as I remembered her stories, I decided that doing a taxi driver's job would be an appealing way to have a break from being a mother as well as a chance to talk with a great variety of people every day. Obviously I wasn't going to join some big taxi company, so I hired an old "Volga" and installed two video surveillance cameras in the car's interior, so that depending on the situation, they could focus on the front seat or the back seat. I was filming in this manner and working as a taxi driver for nearly three weeks. During this same period, as a passenger I filmed female taxi drivers as they talked about their experiences. The work was exhibited at the taxi stand next to the market in the place where I grew up, on a small screen in Mrs. Milda's taxi, where she also got to meet the audience.
Paukotājs / The Fencer, Astra Zoldnere, fiction, Latvia, 2009, 16 min
A young married housewife's dull routine is enlivened as she spies on the sexual escapades of her neighbor - a fencing instructor. She too is seduced by him, but fear of losing her family results in hysteria and an unpredictable climax.