international short film competition

2ANNAS IFF 1
CONTENTS
Programme
Welcome
Competition
International short film competition
Baltic short film competition
Mid-length film competition
Focus Programme
O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-Z-E-D
On Dysfunctional European Man
Man and Violence
Man and Sex
Man and Religion
Man and Football
Man in Latvian cinema
Hardijs Ledins’ screening
Is It Easy to Be Young?
2
04
06
07
09
15
19
25
26
28
30
32
34
36
38
40
Juris Podnieks’ short films
Is It Easy...? 20 years later
Partner screening
Special events
Opening ceremony
Premiere screening
Stand-Up / About men and
cinema
Lecture:
Fellini and Mastroianni
Discussion / 2ANNAS 20!
From the Beginning Till
Now
Festival team
Map
41
42
43
47
48
49
50
50
51
54
55
2ANNAS IFF 3
PROGRAMME
22.09 / 23.09 / 24.09
TUESDAY 22.09
17
17.00 / KKC
EFA Short Film
Nominations #1
WEDNESDAY 23.09
17.00 / KINO BIZE
Hardijs Ledins
Screening
19.00 / Splendid Place
Opening Ceremony
19.00 / KINO BIZE
International short films #2 It Hurts
THURSDAY 24.09
17.30 / KINO BIZE
International
short films #3
Time and Space
17.30 / KKC
Man in Latvian
Cinema #2
19.00 /KINO BIZE
Discussion - 2ANNAS 20! From the
Beginning Till Now
20.00 / KKC
Stand-Up / About Man and Cinema
20
21
17.00 / KINO BIZE
International short films #1 We are Here
18.00 / KKC
Man in Latvian Cinema #1
18
19
PROGRAMME
25.09 / 26.09 / 27.09
21.00 / KKC
Opening After-Party
21.00 / KINO BIZE
Baltic short films #1 In This Place
21.00 / KSuns
International mid-length films #1
Hidden Worlds
22.00 / KKC
Man and Violence
22
23
FRIDAY 25.09
17.00 / KINO BIZE
International short films #4 Family Matters
19.00 / KSuns
Premiere Screening
20.00 / KINO BIZE
International midlength films #2
Parents and Children
22.00 / KINO BIZE
Juris Podnieks' Short
Films
20.30 / KSuns
International short
films #5
System Error
22.30 / KSuns
Man and Football
SATURDAY 26.09
SUNDAY 27.09
14.00 / KINO BIZE
International midlength films #3
Women's Fight
16.00 / KSuns
Baltic short films #2
The Struggle
14.00 / KSuns
Viktors Freibergs
Lecture on Fellini
and Mostroianni
18.00 / KSuns
Baltic short
films #3
Personal Journeys
18.00 / KINO BIZE
O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-Z-E-D
On Dysfunctional
European Man
18.00 / KSuns
Awarded Film
Screening
20.00 / KINO BIZE
EFA Short Film
Nominations #2
20.00 / KKC
Is It Easy to Be Young?
20.00 / KKC
Is it Easy..?
20 Years Later
22.30 / KKC
Hardijs Ledinsparty
20.30 / KSuns
Awards Ceremony
16.00 / KKC
Man in Latvian
Cinema #3
18.00 / KKC
Man and Religion
4
18
19
20
21
22.00 / KINO BIZE
EFA Short Film
Nominations #3
22
23
23.00 / KSuns
Man and Sex
COMPETITION SCREENINGS
17
FOCUS PROGRAMME
SPECIAL EVENTS
PARTNER SCREENINGS
2ANNAS IFF 5
Greetings on the 20th Birthday of the Riga
International Film Festival 2ANNAS!
The festival topic of this year is MAN: A HERO.
A LOVER. A FOOL. Before the start of the festival,
we opened a public discussion at the festivals Laba
Daba and Positivus about the social roles, stereotypes, and future challenges facing men. This year’s
2ANNAS invites you to a thought-provoking and
challenging film programme, which will elaborate on
this topic both with the latest films from all over the
world and insights in history.
A crucial part of the festival is its competition. We
take pride in the fact that more and more films are
submitted for consideration every year! 61 films
out of 1300 were selected and included in the programme. The most films were submitted for the
International Short Film Competition. 36 films out
of more than 1000 were selected by the jury belonging to different genres: fiction, animated, documentary, and experimental. The scope of the Baltic
Short Film Competition is also considerable this
year – out of the 130 submitted films, 16 made it into
the final. 60 films were submitted from Latvia. There
will be two premieres during the festival – Konfektes
of Laila Pakalniņa and Tukšās Zemes Ritmi of Reinis
Spaile. For the first time, 2ANNAS also introduces
an International Mid-Length Film Competition with 9
fictional and documentary films selected out of approximately 150 submitted in total.
Let’s celebrate and enjoy good films together!
COMPETITION
Riga International Film Festival 2ANNAS team
6
2ANNAS IFF 7
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
INTERNATIONAL AND BALTIC SHORT FILM COMPETITION JURY
Heinz Hermanns
Tanja Hladnik
Vladimir Leščiov (Leschiov)
Heinz Hermanns is the festival director and
CEO of the INTERFILM International Short Film
Festival Berlin. His upcoming festivals include
INTERFILM Berlin 31 and Kuki 8, Short Visions
– Ningbo international short film festival
(China), VeloBerlin Film Award, Zebra Poetry
Film Award, and others.
She finds fine arts irresistebly charming
for as long as she can remember herself. She
studied literature and journalism, almost a decade ago entered the field of visual communications, and later on focused on films. She
took various positions in communication and
programming as a core team member of the
Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film
Festival from Izola (Slovenia). She acts as the
Festival Programme Advisor currently while
studying for her Master’s degree in Arts and
Heritage in The Netherlands. She feels cosy in
a permanent state of wonder.
Born in 1970, in Daugavpils, Latvia. Gratuated from the Art School in Riga in 1989. He had
worked as Illustrator, Designer, and Director
for various video production and broadcasting
companies in Latvia, studied animation at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and
Design in Sweden, been a teacher of animation
at Latvian Academy of Arts. His artworks from
animated films were exhibited in Latvia, Portugal, and Japan. The founder of the Animation
Studio Lunohod in 2007 in Riga, Latvia.
8
INTERNATIONAL
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
2ANNAS IFF 9
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
23.09 / 17.00 / KINO BIZE
WE ARE HERE
KNIFE IN THE WIFE
TAKE ME Prends-moi
ELENA ASINS – GÉNESIS
SLAVES OF THE RAVE
GORAN
YOU KEEP AN EYE ON US
Noz w wozie
Vita Drygas
Documentary / Poland / 2014 / 10’49’’
A documentary impression portraying
the life of the provincial Arizona Circus.
For over fifteen years the circus owner
and his son have been throwing knives
at their wives. Despite the fact that
their show isn’t the highest of arts,
the magic of the circus fascinates the
young viewers.
William Garratt
Animation / UK / 2014 / 2’40’’
An animated musical comedy, which
takes a look at an audience’s reaction
to different types of music.
10
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
Fiction / Canada / 2014 / 10’06’’
A nurse working in a centre for the
disabled is confronted to his principles
when he’s asked to accomplish a
particular task.
Roberto Santaguida
Documentary / Serbia and
montenegró/ 2014 / 10’38’’
Joy and frustration as constructed by
Goran Gostojić of Novi Sad.
Álvaro Gimenez Sarmiento
Documentary / Spain / 2014 / 18’
Elena Asins has lived for over 20
years in Azpírotz, a small village in the
northeast of Navarra. From there she
develops one of the most significant
artistic careers in the Spanish contemporary art scene.
Zle nam z oczu patrzy
Arek Biedrzycki
Fiction / Poland / 2014 / 25’26’’
He and she – trapped in the apartment.
He is hiding from the consequences
of the crime he has committed. She is
innocent. From the outside come the
signals of inevitable tragedy.
IT HURTS
GIANT
Salla Tykkä
Documentary / Finland / 2014 / 12’47’’
Giant features leading junior team
gymnasts of Romania. The film is shot
in two boarding schools for artistic
gymnastics in Onesti and Deva. Archive film footage starting from 1970s
and clips from a feature fiction film
shot in the same locations reveal not
only continuity in picturing this sport
but also the structures of recording it.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
23.09 / 19.00 / KINO BIZE
TZNIUT
GIFT OF MY FATHER
THE MAN OF MY LIFE
HIPPOS Hipopotamy
A HOLE IN MY HEART
WITHIN
ACTION PAINTING NO.1 / NO.2
SAFARI
David Formentin
Fiction / USA / 2014 / 10’46’’
A Hasidic woman in Brooklyn
discovers she has an STD. Although
limited by her social standing in a
deeply Orthodox community, she seeks
to origin of her illness.
Un creux dans mon coeur
Mees Peijnenburg
Fiction / Netherlands / 2015 / 9’26’’
Sometimes things happen that turn
everything to silence. To the point that
nothing makes sense anymore. As if
everything got stuck.
Hadiatt abi
Salam Salman
Fiction / Iraq / 2015 / 7’
A seemingly normal car journey crosses from present reality into a recurring
nightmare as Hamoudi, a young victim
of war, relives his traumatic experiences of the Baghdad Blackwater
shootings.
Natália Azevedo Andrade
Animation / Portugal / 2015 / 3’
A dancer loses her rhythm. An
expedition through the interior of fear,
guilt and shame.
L’homme de ma vie
Mélanie Delloye
Fiction / France / 2015 / 25’33’’
When Alice sees Eric kissing another
girl, she is devastated. To make matters worse, her rival runs with her in
the same relay team. Alice might only
be 13 years old, but she is not ready to
give up her place so easily.
Krefer, Turca
Eksperimental, Video / Brazil /
2014 / 6’45’’
Sex as a mutual creative gesture. In
Action Painting No 1, she responds to
his movements by scratching his back
and leaving blood marks. In Action
Painting No. 2, he drips candle wax on
her back during the sexual act.
Piotr Dumala
Animation / Poland / 2014 / 12’29’’
A few naked women and children
are bathing in a river. They are being
secretly observed by a group of men,
who, at one point decide to approach
them, in a violent manner, as if inspired
by the behaviour of hippopotamuses.
Gerardo Herrero
Fiction / Spain / 2014 / 15’
It is an ordinary day in an American
high school, but this day will not be like
the others...
2ANNAS IFF 11
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
TIME AND SPACE 24.09 / 17.30 / KINO BIZE
AUBADE
PLANET ∑
YES WE LOVE Ja vi elsker
CHAMP DES POSSIBLES
ECLIPSE
MARS CLOSER
Mauro Carraro
Animation / Switzerland / 2014 / 5’25’’
A black sun rises on Leman Lake. In
a surrealist backlit scene, swimmers
and birds witness the spectacle of the
dawn, hypnotized by the music of a
cellist.
Cristina Picchi
Documentary / Canada, Italy / 2015/
12’45’’
Champ de possibles is a contemporary
city
symphony
where
floating
memories blend with urban sounds and
natural elements, where tales of loss
and love are mirrored by the demolition
and construction of new buildings.
12
Momoko Seto
Fiction / France / 2014 / 11’50’’
In PLANET ∑, giant creatures are
trapped inside the ice. Submarine
explosions provoke a global warming,
and a new life begins for animals.
Jacky De Groen
Animation / Belgium / 2014 / 5’40’’
A lunar eclipse obscures the relation
between a lion and its tamer.
Hallvar Witzø
Fiction / Norway / 2014 / 15’
Yes We Love is Norway represented by
four generations, each with their crisis
on Norway’s Constitution Day.
Annelie Boros / Vera Maria Brückner
Documentary / Germany/ 2015 /
16’12’’
In 2024 a private organization plans to
send a group of four people to Mars.
Paul Leeming and Pauls Irbins are both
shortlisted candidates for the planet’s
first human settlement. The mission is
going to be a one-way trip.
FAMILY MATTERS
BRUNSBUETTEL BRIDGE
Hochbrücke Brunsbüttel
Karsten Wiesel
Documentary / Germany / 2015 / 12’08’’
One of the longest bridges in Germany
crosses the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel
in 40 meters height. The further one
approaches this structure the more
impressive are its visual and acoustic
effects.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
25.09 / 17.00 / KINO BIZE
THE EDUCATION
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
DAEWIT Däwit
BLUE THUNDER Bleu Tonnerre
Klaartje Schrijvers
Animation / Belgium / 2014 / 14’56’’
The Education is a humoristic short
animated film about a teenage girl
living through the existential crisis
of her family. Neither the girl, nor her
father, nor her mother, nor her sister
escapes the spiral of that devastating
downturn.
David Jansen
Animation / Germany / 2015 / 14’50’’
Daewit is rescued from his violent
father and grows up far away from
his family among wolves. Embarking
on a mysterious journey to find his
own identity, he encounters great
hardship but ultimately finds peace in
forgiveness.
Le sel de la terre
Jonathan Desoindre
Fiction / France / 2014 / 18’
Vincent and Diane, thirty-something
Parisians, have decided to get married.
Vincent brings her fiancée back to his
home town but his family shows some
hostility. Situation escalates when, at
a hunting game, Diane is accidentally
wounded...
I’M A PRINCESS DRAWING
Je suis un dessin de princesse
Mulsant Gwenael
Animation / France / 2014 / 2’52’’
Every morning at school, I’m drawing a
princess for my daughter, so she can
colour it. Other children have started
asking me for one. And this has
reminded me of an old period of time
when I was making drawing of Cobra...
IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
Maria Eriksson
Fiction / Zviedrija / 2014 / 18’22’’v
Frida is 19 and a mother to her own
mother. Today is the day she’s moving
out and in with her boyfriend. Finally.
But then the unthinkable happens, as it
inevitably does. Mother starts crying.
Uncontrollably.
Jean-Marc E. Roy
Fiction / Canada / 2015 / 21’
In his thirties and in a desperate need
of a purpose, Bruno ends up homeless
after a breakup. This sawmill worker
with no despair and under the watchful
eye of his motherly eldest sister will
find a motivation to put his beloved
blue suit back on and to rekindle an
old flame.
2ANNAS IFF 13
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
25.09 / 20.30 / KSUNS
SYSTEM ERROR
#YA
Ygor & Florencia Gama & Rovlich
(Argentina, Čhile)
Experimental / Germany / 2015 / 15’
First it’s paint bombs, followed hard
by riots. Tweets proclaim what is to be
done. Resistance is everywhere. Something has to give. Two young activists
meet amid turbulent events. They
dance. The city belongs to them.
SHIPWRECK
Morgan Knibbe
Documentary / Netherlands / 2014 /
14’57’
On October 3 2013, a boat carrying 500
Eritrean refugees sunk off the coast
of the Italian island Lampedusa. More
than 360 people drowned. Abraham,
one of the survivors, walks through a
graveyard of shipwrecks and vividly remembers the nightmarish experience.
14
BACKWARD RUN Marche Arriere
Ayce Kartal
Animation / France / 2014 / 4’
June 2013. Demonstrators occupy
Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi park. While the
tension and police brutality rise in the
streets, the Turkish TV broadcasts documentaries about penguins. Backward
Run is a self-censored film criticizing
this press censorship.
DINNER FOR FEW
Nassos Vakalis
Animation / Greece / 2014 / 10’08’’
Dinner For Few is an allegorical depiction of our society. During dinner, “the
system” feeds the few who consume
all the resources while the rest survive
on scraps. Inevitably, the struggle for
what remains leads to catastrophic
change.
AHLEM (DREAMS) Ahlem (sogni) WITH JOY AND MERRINESS
Alessandra Pescetta
Fiction / Italy / 2014 / 18’30’’
Ahlem and Victoria are two teenagers
with far distant roots (Tunisia and
Poland) who have been growing up in
Sicily. “What’s your dream today?” they
often ask each other.
Dans la joie et la bonne humeur
Jeanne Boukraa
Animation / Belgium / 2014 / 5’15’’
With Joy and Merriness is an experimental documentary that observes
degeneration of the society where
technological breakthroughs make
the biggest dream of the humankind –
immortality attainable.
IN THE DISTANCE
BEACH FLAGS
Florian Grolig
Animation / Germany / 2015 / 7’30’’
It’s calm and peaceful above the
clouds. But in the distance is war, and
night by night chaos advances.
BALTIC
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Sarah Saidan
Animation / France / 2014 / 13’39’’
Vida is a young Iranian lifeguard.
Popular on her team, she is determined
to fight in order to be the one to participate in an international competition in
Australia. However, when Sareh who
is as fast and talented as her, joins
the team, Vida will have to face an
unexpected situation.
2ANNAS IFF 15
BALTIC SHORT FILM COMPETITION
IN THIS PLACE 23.09 / 21.00 / KINO BIZE
CATS IN RIGA
Jon Bang Carlsen
Documentary / Latvia / 2014 / 17’
The protagonists in this film are beautiful lovers, arrogant killers, serious
sleepers which if you stroke them, will
scratch you right away or love you for a
short while before they’ll kill you.
THE OLD JEWISH CEMETARY
Vecā ebreju kapsēta
Sergei Loznitsa
Documentary / Latvia , Netherlands /
2014 / 20’
The first Jewish cemetery in Riga
was opened in 1725 and burials there
continued until the late 1930s. After
German forces occupied Riga in 1941,
the cemetery became a mass burial
site for over 1 000 Jews killed in the
streets and houses of Riga Ghetto.
16
ISLE OF SEALS
Roņu sala
Edmunds Jansons
Animation / Latvia / 2014 / 6’
There is a grey isle of the Seals in the
middle of a grey sea. Grey hunters live
their grey lives on this grey island. The
life is simple and harsh. Seals and
hunters live together in a brutish balance. One day, a photographer arrives
to document this environment.
After the WWII, many of the cemetery’s
tombstones were removed and used
as a building material. The site was
razed and renamed The Park of the
Communist Brigades in the 1960s.
The park was renamed The Old Jewish
Cemetery in 1992.
Located in one of the poorest areas of
the capital, the so-called Maskachka
(Maskava is the Latvian name for Moscow), it is a popular spot for the idle
drunkards, local kids, and American
tourists nowadays.
PERSONAL JOURNEYS
THREE Kolm
Eva Kübar
Fiction / Estonia / 2014 / 15’38’’
Kristiina is in her late twenties and
does not know what she wants from
her life. All of a sudden she finds
herself photographed by the young and
bold Mattias, leading to many difficult
choices. Who will make the ultimate
decision - Kristiina or her destiny?
THE FISH OF MY LIFE
Mano Gyvenimo Žuvis
Julius Sičiūnas
Fiction / Lithuania / 2014 / 5’39’’
Once upon a time in the middle of
nowhere there was a farmhouse. Two
seniors lived there. Long, long ago
they truly loved each other. Now their
life is nothing but a routine. This is a
story about loneliness. About endless
aspirations in life. And pancakes.
TICK TACK Tik Tak
Ülo Pikkov
Animation / Estonia / 2015 / 9’20’’
Watchmaker controls the time, but
the mouse living in the watchmaker’s
workshop controls the clocks... This
is a film about time and its ephemeral
nature.
HOUSE OF
UNCONSCIOUSNESS
Alateadvuse maja
Priit Tender
Animation / Estonia / 2015 / 10’41’’
This film is based on a long-term study
of the dreams of chimney sweepers.
The most frequently encountered
images have been selected from the
abundant material available and the
script was created on the basis of
those images.
BALTIC SHORT FILM COMPETITION
26.09 / 16.00 / KINO BIZE
AFTER RAVE
Kamilė Milašiūtė
Fiction / Lithuania / 2014 / 20’09’’
Finding out about her grandfather’s
death right before going out with her
friends, Milda decides not to change
her plans. After partying all night, Milda
has an argument with her mother and
refuses to go to the funeral. The family
leaves and Milda stays alone with her
contradictory feelings.
AVEC
Akio Yuguchi
Documentary / Estonia, Japan/
2014 / 17’01’’
Avec is Akio Yuguchi’s self-reflective
film about personal grief and feelings
of guilt after the death of a sibling. The
pensive filmmaker aims at visualizing
the long process of coming to terms
with his inner conflict.
FACE Seja
Jurģis Krāsons
Animation / Latvia / 2014 / 13’52’’
His own image in the mirror was so
important that once he didn’t find
himself there.
A LITTLE LONGER Mazliet ilgāk
Staņislavs Tokalovs
Fiction / Latvia / 2014 / 25’
The young Amdis, 21, offers to fulfil
every wish of the dying friend of his
grandmother Mara, 80, in exchange
for her apartment after her death. This
agreement makes them both consider
their attitude toward life and death.
2ANNAS IFF 17
BALTIC SHORT FILM COMPETITION
THE STRUGGLE 29.09 / 18.00 / KSUNS
JACKIE Džekis
Giedrius Tamoševičius
Fiction / Lithuania / 2015 / 21’57’’
Tom’s parental rights are restricted.
He can see his daughter Urte only
in child protection agency’s office in
the presence of agency’s supervisor
and his ex-wife. Tom still has Urte’s
beloved toy Jackie, but can’t come to
terms with the situation and decides to
kidnap his daughter.
CANDY Cukierek
Laila Pakalniņa
Fiction / Latvia, Estonia / 2015/ 4’
Murderer is wanted in the city.
Although nobody has been murdered –
as we find out at the end of the film. In
any case – greetings to Fritz Lang, our
source of inspiration!
MUSHROOMS. I HAVE NO
TIME Sēnītes. man nav laika
Lizete Murovska
Animation / Latvia / 2014 / 5’01’’
She has to pick all the remaining mushrooms before the first frost comes.
LIFE WITH HERMAN H.ROTT
Elu Herman H. Rott’iga
Chintis Lundgren
Animation / Estonia / 2015 / 11’06’’
Herman is a rat who enjoys heavy
drinking, loud grind music and chess.
He doesn’t care much for cleaning
and the disorder in his apartment only
makes him feel more at home.
One day a very tidy cat who has a
weakness for messy macho-men,
decides to move in.
INTERNATIONAL
MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION
BEATS OF THE EMPTY LAND
Tukšās zemes ritmi
Reinis Spaile
Fiction / Latvia / 2015 / 28’
Fourteen year old Arvids lives in a
small village and spends most of his
time daydreaming about his future
plans together with his best friend
Klavs.
18
2ANNAS IFF 19
INTERNATIONAL MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION
JURY
HIDDEN WORLDS
T’S WORLD: THE OVERIDENTIFICATION OF TERRY
THOMPSON
LIUDA DRIŽYTĖ
LAURIS ĀBELE
LAURA WALDE
Liuda Drižytė is a Programm Maker and
Auteur based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Since graduating from the Lithuanian Music and Theater
Academy in 2007, she works as a freelancer in
film industry simultaneously participating in
various social and environmental projects and
improving her knowledge in philology and philosophy. Since 2010, she is collaborating with
the Vilnius International Short Film Festival.
Lauris Abele is a Latvian filmmaker, born
in Riga, Latvia. He holds the Masters degree
in Audio-Visual Arts (film directing) from the
Latvian Academy of Culture and the Bachelor’s degree in Humanitarian Sciences (philosophy) from the University of Latvia. Lauris
together with his brother Raitis Abele, also
a Director, won the Grand Prix in the International Competition of the Tampere Film Festival 2015 with their short fiction Castratus the
Boar. Apart from that, he has made several
music videos and commercials. Both brothers as film artists focus on modern existential problems and strong visual elements.
Laura Walde holds the MA degree in Film
Studies and English Literature from the Universities of Zurich and Aberdeen. She works as
the Programm Maker and the focus Programm
Curator for the Internationale Kurzfilmtage
Winterthur, Switzerland. She is also the Co-Director of the Swiss Youth Film Festival, where
she is responsible for the programm making.
20
Ramon Bloomberg
Documentary / UK / 2014 / 30’
T’s World unpacks events surrounding
the 2011 animal release and subsequent suicide of Terry Thompson in
Zanesville Ohio, USA. Over the course
of 15 years Terry Thompson collected
tigers, lions, bears, wolves, and other
dangerous animals accumulating a
menagerie of 60 or so creatures on his
private ranch. The menagerie was not
open to the public and was not visible
from the road, therefore according to
the laws at that time in Ohio, the law
enforcement authorities had no right to
inspect or otherwise cast an eye upon
Mr. Thompson’s private collection.
INTERNATIONAL MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION
24.09 / 21.00 / KSUNS
VITA BREVIS
Thierry Knauff
Documentary / Belgium / 2015 / 39’
Drifting with the wonderful blooming
of millions of mayflies on the waves of
the Tisza river, Vita Brevis is a poem of
the moment, an evocation of the fragile
and fleeting dance of life.
HI, RASMA! Čau, Rasma!
Laila Pakalniņa
Documentary / Latvia / 2015 / 38’
If not other nations then at least
Latvians often ponder why their
neighbors Estonians live as well as
they do. Why is it so? Could it be that
the answer is somehow related with
Latvian trade ship Rasma, that was
sunk near Mohni island 74 years ago?
2ANNAS IFF 21
INTERNATIONAL MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION
CHILDREN AND PARENTS 25.09 / 21.00 / KINO BIZE
EVERYTHING WILL BE OK
Alles wird gut
Patrick Vollrath
Fiction / Austria, Germany / 2015 / 30’
A dad can spend a few hours with his
daughter every second weekend of the
month. He loves her. And she loves
him. Until... A story about love and
hate, about betrayal and desperation.
But in the end, everything will be okay...
This movie has a great impact on its
audience. (Abbas Kiarostami, October,
2014)
22
BLOOD BELOW THE SKIN
Jennifer Reeder
Fiction / USA / 2015 / 30’
This short narrative chronicles a week
in the lives of three teenage girls, from
different social circles, who form a
bond in the week leading up to the
school dance. Countdown to prom
night is actually countdown to irreversible change for each girl. Two of the
girls are falling in love with each other
against all expectations and the third
girl is forced to mother her own mother
in the wake of her father’s disappearance. Each girl seeks comfort within
the walls of her bedroom where the
music blasting from the turntable provides a magical synchronicity between
them all. The title refers to the secrets
that girls and women keep just below
their surface.
MOTHER EARTH
Matka ziemia
Piotr Złotorowicz
Fiction / Poland / 2014 / 30’
Maciek wants to satisfy his father’s
ambition and become a butcher. Unfortunately he is too sensitive to make
an animal suffer. He turns to the care
of an old orchard, the only memory
left from his mother, and discovers his
supernatural abilities.
WOMEN’S FIGHTS
HONEY ON WOUNDS
Iulia Stoian
Documentary / UK / 2014 / 30’
During the Kosovo War thousands
of Albanian women witnessed the
execution of their husbands. They are
now forbidden to remarry, or lead independent lives. In a village of widows,
they are being shown a sweet way to
start the healing journey.
INTERNATIONAL MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION
26.09 / 14.00 / KINO BIZE
VARYA Varja
Aliona Polunina
Documentary / Latvia / 2014 / 47’
AInterims, uncertainties, illustrated by
the great search engine powers: for
Yandex, the Crimea is Russian territory,
for Google it is Ukrainian. And the
realm of Facebook is only a keystroke
away, not to be underestimated as a
platform for ideological positioning.
When Aliona Polunina tries to shoot a
film about the Russian-Ukrainian war
she meets Varya, a simple Moscow
mathematics teacher with frizzy grey
hair, naive eyes, health sandals, plastic
bags and a notebook. Varya is strange,
but a heroine: she canvasses her
Facebook contacts in the country that
became the declared enemy of her
government overnight. Varya goes to
Ukraine to explore a whole spectrum
of political and national euphoria there
(be it militant or pacifist, idiosyncratic
or collective), which she emphatically
tries to understand and communicate
to her Russian fellow campaigners in
defiance of the delusions propagated
by the mass media.
W. SISTERS’ BEAUTY SALON
Salon siostr w.
Jakub Stozek
Documentary / Poland / 2014 / 30’
In 2012, a peculiar beauty salon was
opened in Szczecin. It is the only beauty parlour for women with cancer. It is
run by two sisters, Joanna Wiszniewska and Jolanta Wiewióra, who know
from their own experience how troublesome it may be for patients to visit
to a hairdresser or a beautician. Their
establishment is different. Clients have
an opportunity to talk freely about their
dreams and fears related to the illness.
2ANNAS IFF 23
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN: A HERO. A LOVER. A FOOL.
The topic of the Riga International Film Festival
2ANNAS this year is MAN: A HERO. A LOVER. A
FOOL. Buster Keaton, the main character and director
of the opening film of the festival The General is an
embodiment of all these three male archetypes.
However, the question remains: how are modern men
represented in cinema?
During the focus programmes and discussions, we
realised that independent films less and less often
portray men as heroes. Women’s emancipation alone
cannot be blamed on this shift since it also involves
a more layered view of the concept of heroism. It is
often the case that heroism is the flipside of violence
– which leads to a more critical portrayal of the man
as a ‘strong father’, ‘military commander’, ‘alpha
male’. The reconsideration of the male roles both in
real life and in film creates a certain confusion which
is addressed in the festival programme O-R-G-A-N-EZ-I-Z-E-D: On Dysfunctional European Man curated by
Laura Walde focusing on the struggle of the European
men who have got outside of the normal social range.
A similar trend was outlined in the short works of
the new Latvian directors, which 2ANNAS showed
at the festivals Positivus and Laba Daba as part of
24
the programme Latvian Man. The selected short films
portrayed a Latvian man who desperately and often
unsuccessfully tries to be a good enough as a father,
a husband, a breadwinner, a lover, and a hero.
The focus programmes of the festival represent
important dimensions of a man’s life. We will learn
about his lovers in the programme Man and Sex,
about his relationship with God in the programme
Man and Religion, about his shadow self in the
programme Man and Violence, whereas his attitude
towards his favourite sports game will be addressed
in the programme Man and Football. The programmes
created by the curators Kristīne Matīsa and Agris
Redovičs will delight with the bright male characters
in the history of the Latvian cinema. The man will be
represented as an exile, a spy, a doormat, a symbol,
and a survivor.
The film programmes will be accompanied by
discussions, parties, and different special events,
during which the Latvian viewer and the festival
guests will be able to celebrate the art of the moving
picture in a pleasant and educational manner.
FOCUS
PROGRAMME
2ANNAS IFF 25
FOCUS PROGRAMME
O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-Z-E-D
O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-Z-E-D
On Dysfunctional
European
OnMan
Dysfunctional European
FOCUS PROGRAMME
Man
26.09 / 18.00 / KINO BIZE
“One of these days, I’m gonna get organezized,”
says Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. In this sentence,
Travis’ disorganization is, of course, already present
on a formal level. The Travis Bickles of Europe
come in many shapes and characters, forms and
filmic languages, too. This program explores the
dilemmas many men in Europe face today (and
which can’t all be blamed on emancipation!). Be
that the struggle to find one’s place in society in the
Onno de Onweetende or to define one’s self image in
comparison to the heroes of one’s youth in the Me,
Nobody & I. While these films address the theme
of dysfunctionality from the perspective of the
potentially over-privileged, other films, such as, the
Ukrainian production Snails take a look on the daily
dysfunctionalities among Europe’s underprivileged.
The creative film industry explores the Travis Bickles
of our society once in a playful, once in a serious and
thoughtful manner. The male protagonists of these
films are all somewhat dysfunctional and whacky,
26
but – given the circumstances they find themselves
in – that might actually also be a sign of good health.
And, for the audience at least, also a promise for
witty and yet challenging entertainment.
Curated by Laura Walde
Laura Walde holds the MA degree in Film Studies
and English Literature from the Universities of
Zurich and Aberdeen. She works as the Programm
Maker and the focus Programm Curator for the
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Switzerland.
She is also the Co-Director of the Swiss Youth Film
Festival, where she is responsible for the programm
making.
ONNO THE OBLIVIOUS
Onno de onweetende
Viktor van der Valk
Fiction / Netherlands / 2014 / 29’12’
Onno is stuck. He’s lost. Many questions. Few answers. And on top of that
there’s this strange feeling. This feeling
that he knows, but doesn’t understand.
This feeling that has come to him
much earlier, so it didn’t start here, but
where? Where did it start?
ME, NOBODY & I
Jörg Hurschler
Documentary / Switzerland / 2012 /
8’30’’
A personal journey to the idols of
childhood, to television stars and the
question why do we identify ourselves
with the clichés from the media world.
An essay, a meditation, a firework of
pictures, which brings the filmmaker
from the wrestling ring to a talking car,
through the desert back to his roots.
THE EXTERNAL WORLD
David O’Reilly
Animation / Germany / 2010 / 15’
A dark comedy about nothing and
everything, a world in which everything
is dysfunctional, unhinged, nearly
dismantled. Let us remind ourselves:
“just animation. It has no real effect
on people.”
SNAILS
Maryna Vroda
Fiction / France, Ukraine / 2014 / 19’
A group of young guys who grew up
together. They meet up to have some
fun.
IT’S ME. HELMUT
Ich bin’s Helmut
Nicolas Steiner
Fiction / France ,Switzerland /
2009 / 11’
Helmut celebrates his 60th birthday
on the day he is actually turning 57
(his wife miscalculated). As a facade
of petit-bourgeois domesticity peels
away, old friends drop by to offer some
well-meaning advice through bizarre
declarations of love and transience…
2ANNAS IFF 27
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN AND VIOLENCE
24.09 / 22.00 / KKC
“In Balkans every generation has its war. Sons
are continuing fights started by their fathers.”
The documentary Real Man’s Film depicts the
way violence is passed down from generation to
generation – the phenomenon that affects not only
families, but also entire nations.
Violence can be physical or psychological, it
can be overt or hidden. Somewhere behind the
aggressive abuser, there is often a scared victim, but,
in other cases, violence is the other face of heroism,
depending on the context and social values. There
are also times when violence is justified, for instance,
self-defence, but how does it affect the victim?
Both men and women are capable of becoming
abusive, however, since men are mostly physically
stronger, traditionally, they have been soldiers and
fighters. Unfortunately, it is also men who are more
often violent in families and gangs. This short film
program is focused on the different models and
manifestations of the male aggression. Since there
are no didactical solutions, perhaps acknowledging
28
violence in and of itself is the first step towards
changing the status quo.
Curated by Astra Zoldnere
Astra Zoldnere is a film director, curator and publicist. In her line of work, the practical and theoretical aspects of film interact with each other. Astra
received her Master’s degree from the Baltic Film
School. Her fictional and documentary short films
have been shown in many film festivals and received
prizes, and Zoldnere’s articles about cinema have
been published in the cultural media. As of 2015,
Astra is the Program Director of the International
Film Festival 2ANNAS.
REAL MAN’S FILM
WILD DOG Bloedhond
SHADOWBOXER
A PLACE TO FIGHT
Nebojsa Slijepcevic
Documentary / Croatia / 2012 / 12’
In Balkans every generation has its
war. Sons are continuing fights started
by their fathers. There are rifles and
pistols in every hand. Concentration of
arms has reached a critical point. Even
the smallest incident would be disastrous to this fragile peace. Watching
children playing with toy guns makes
you wander: what are we leaving to the
next generation?
Schattenboxer
Jannis Lenz
Fiction / Austria / 2015 / 17’33’’
Ahmet, a kickboxer, is sentenced to
probation for assault, and he has one
final chance: If he’s given a positive
evaluation after an anger-management
training, he won’t have to go to jail.
Mees Peijnenburg
Fiction / Netherlands / 2015 / 8’
Gijs’ aggression is becoming more and
more of a problem. If he doesn’t take
action now his explosive temper will
cause irreversible damage.
FRED ET MARIE
The Deck & Lenitch
Fiction /Belgium / 2011 / 11’16’’
A subtly powerful examination of
domestic abuse, the problem of
Marie and Fred’s relationship comes
into focus during preparation for an
evening dinner party.
BEAST
Lars Pedersen
Fiction / Denmark / 2009 / 15’’
A young boy watches as his mother
suffers under the domestic abuse of
his father. One day he decides to force
a confrontation.
Matthias Lawetzky
Documentary / Germany, Indonesia /
2015 / 14’20’’
Cockfights are deeply rooted in the
Indonesian culture. On the one hand,
there`s illegal betting, on the other
hand there`s traditional gathering and
inbetween the stimulus of blood. A
Place to Fight offers an insight, far
away from tourism.
2ANNAS IFF 29
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN AND SEX
23.09 / 23.00 / KSUNS
“She was so gentle” says the main character of
the film Dolphin Lover without bravado or regret.
However, these four words encompass a lot more
than meets the eye. While intricacies of female
sensual experiences have been explored for over
half a century by a myriad of directors, wishes and
desires of men are often reduced to physiologically
primitive answers by the same artists. As a result,
the man’s inner world remains uncovered beyond
representation of a seductive underwear model on
a large poster. Whenever sensuality is addressed in
cinema, women are from Venus, while men are from
the dark side of the Moon.
Male sexuality is something which is acquired
at the point of conception and in equal measure
refers to the main characters of Beach Boy – poor
Kenyans, whose bodies are purchased by European
pensioners – as well as to Western men from
different generations who find solace in computer
game characters (as in the short film Dancing
Anymore), sea creatures (in Dolphine Lover), or latex
30
(in the shocking German short film Law & Order). The
Man and Sex Programme of the Short Film Festival
2ANNAS gives an insight into this twilight zone in
seven different cinematographical ways – starting
with gentle hints and ending with the most immodest
close-ups.
Curated by Ildze Terēze Felsberga
Grown up in a museum, she still spends most of
her fleeting time proverbially dusting off neglected
or long forgotten films. Ildze studies film theory,
writes about films and in her spare time works at a
radio station and helps to build a new cinema. Not
much for small talk at the parties, but can listen for
hours to sombre characters who emerge from shady
arches. Trusts Jarmush unconditionally. Believes
that the strongest dialogue with a human soul is
created when art speaks the language of the film.
LAW AND ORDER
DOLPHIN LOVER
Zucht und Ordnung
Jan Soldat
Documentary / Germany / 2012 / 9’
A short documentary about the normality of body and sexuality of seniors.
Two naked elderly men (both in their
70ies) in elegant surroundings talk
about their relationships and ‘the good
old days’, as well as chat about their
fetishes and their sadomasochistic
inclinations in a refreshingly candid
manner.
Real German Education.
Kareem Tabsch
Documentary / USA / 2015 / 17’
Set in 1971 at a Florida roadside
amusement park, Dolphin Lover is a
documentary short film that tells the
incredible true story of Malcolm Brenner and his romantic and sexual love
affair with Dolly, a captive bottlenose
dolphin. Through Malcolm’s story, the
film offers an intimate first person account on this complex and polarizing
aspect of human sexuality that will
challenge your perceptions.
HOLOPAW - DIRTY BOOTS
BEACH BOY
Adam Baran
Music video / USA / 2014 / 5’09’’
This music video for Holopaw’s Dirty
Boots follows a sexually-charged
day in the life of a gay biker gang in
Brooklyn. They awake in a tangle of
leather, then suit up and ride to an
underground sex club to initiate new
members.
DELAY
Tomas Leach
Documentary / Germany UK / 2014 / 8’
A funny, tender and intimate short film
about what men think about in order to
delay that vital moment.
FREE NOW
Pierre Liebaert
Documentary / Belgium / 2014 /
11’20’’
The models who replied to his ad wanted to pose in the intimacy of closed
doors, as if this face to face with the
photographer whom they knew nothing
about was the one thing they had been
waiting for.
Emil Langballe
Documental / UK, Kenya / 2013 / 28’
Juma is unemployed and like many
other young Kenyans, he dreams of a
better life abroad. One day he meets a
British woman, and Europe suddenly
gets closer.
2ANNAS IFF 31
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN AND RELIGION
27.09 / 18.00 / KKC
What does it mean to be a man in the religious
context and what could be the cost? Can a religious
man also be virile? Has the image of a man as
a spiritual leader changed over the years? The
programme includes seven short films which focus
on the paradox between the passionate nature of
a man and his desire to serve a higher purpose in
the modern world. One of the examples for that is
the suppression of homosexuality in the Judaic
context in And Thou Shalt Love or the hyperbolised
love for God in the production For The Love of God.
The concepts of sin, righteousness and questions of
belief are addressed in the films God Bless You and
Allah Is Great. No matter whether you are a priest in
the making, or a taxi driver.
Even though the image of a man serves a
representational purpose in many world’s religions,
one should not forget its impermanent nature and
the fact that this discussion would not have been
possible over 20 years ago, as shown in the short
material from a Latvian newsreel series Merchant of
Sacred Accessories.
32
The purpose of the programme is to make the
viewers open their minds to the religious image of a
man not just as an icon, but also in its living, human
and, perhaps, slightly heretical manifestation, and to
emphasise the fact that the big truth will reveal itself
only on one’s deathbed.
Curated by Laima Graždanoviča
In addition to studying theatre and film sciences,
hosting the radio NABA show about cinema Older
Than 60 Minutes and performing with the company
of the theatre show Improvide, this year Laima
is also the programmer of the Riga International
Film Festival 2ANNAS. She stresses that through
short film, it is possible to quickly observe a direct
reaction to current events in the world – on the
political, social and artistic level, which makes this
form unexpectedly exciting and always relevant.
MERCHANT OF THE SACRED
ACCESSORIES
ALLAH IS GREAT
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
AND THOU SHALT LOVE
DEATHBED: THE MUSICAL
APOSTLE
Svētlietu tirgotājs
Irina Masa
Latvia / 1965 / 1’31’’
An episode from the newsreel series
Soviet Latvia unmasking a man who
made “dirty money” with the illegal
merchandise of the sacred accessories.
Chaim Elbaum
Fiction / Israel / 2007 / 28’
Ohad, a young orthodox Jew, is torn
between the man he loves and god.
Who will he choose?
Andrea Iannetta
Fiction / India / 2012 / 25’04’’
Frank Asmas, a Danish engineer, has
to reach Nairobi, where he is supposed
to give a speech at an important
conference. He learns that the car designated to take him to the airport, has
not come due to political protests in
the region. In its arrives Salim, a local
taxi driver. Frank and Salim belong to
completely different worlds, and this
leads them to mutual incomprehension...
Liat Har-gil
Animation / Israel / 2011 / 06’
An old man sits in a nursing home,
waiting to die. A devoutly religious
man, he firmly believes he will receive
his due reward in the afterlife. While reflecting on his own virtues and thinking
of the world to come, a nurse, nearing
the end of a long, arduous shift, brings
his breakfast.
Joe Tucker
Animation / UK / 2007 / 11’
Graham lives with his tyrannical
Mother and their pet Jackdaw in a
Christian bookshop, trapped in the
seedy outskirts of a decaying nowhere
town. He and his Mother both love
God, but in very different ways. Will
Graham consummate his unholy
fantasy and can it live up to
his expectations?
GOD BLESS YOU Bóg zapłać
Jakub Radej
Fiction / Poland / 2014 / 11’
“I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners” Matthew 9:13
A young cleric during a holly mass gets
a letter from one of the female believers, which reminds him of a recent sin.
He must make the right decision to be
able to follow a spiritual path. Does
one have to sin to become a saint? A
story told without dialogues.
Juhani Koivumäki
Experimental, video / Finland /
2015 / 4’24’’
The Apostle is a metaphorical short
film about the radical ideas of Jesus of
Nazareth, which are facing new forms
of interpretations under the pressure of
constantly changing needs of society
and institutions.
2ANNAS IFF 33
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN AND FOOTBALL
25.09 / 22.30 / KSUNS
Coming of age. Alcoholism. War. Nationalism.
Homophobia. Six football-shortfilms from six countries cover different topics in men‘s relation to their
most loved game. A bittersweet story about boys
from a football team, trapped in the middle of falling
in love and peer pressure. A lonesome alcoholic who
has nothing but the football pitch he’s taking care of.
Boys in Turkey fighting over the question whether a
Turkish born player should be allowed to play for the
German national team. A couch-potato trying to see
a goal of his favourite football player. A gay hooligan
hiding his identity in order to survive. Or a boy and
his father in war-torn Iraq trying to get a TV repaired
to be able to see the Champions League final.
Presented by “11mm” – The International Football
Film Festival, Berlin.
34
Curated by Christoph Gabler
As a student of Social Anthopology I went to India,
to do a fieldwork about the football culture of young
Indians in Calcutta. Since then, I haven’t stopped
working in the field of football & culture. Today I do
so as one of the directors of the international Football Film Festival 11mm and as director of the Berlin-based society for sports & culture Brot & Spiele
e.V.
I also work as freelance journalist for different
German TV stations.
I LOVE HOOLIGANS
MY CIRCUMCISION
GROUNDSMAN
AS A TEAM En equipe
Jan-Dirk Bouw
Animation / Netherlands, Belgium /
2013 / 12’26’’
A football hooligan feels unconditional
love for his club. However, being gay,
he has to hide his identity in order to
survive in this world that is so precious
to him.
Jonny Blair
Fiction / UK / 2013 / 15’
When a lonely football groundsman
from the rural Scotland finds out his
club has gone out of business, he
decides to keep his stadium running
instead of acknowledging his past
affairs.
Meine Beschneidung
Arne Ahrens
Fiction / Turkey, Germany / 2013 / 17’
Nine-year-old Ümit does not want to go
to Turkey with his family. He is haunted
by the thought of his upcoming
circumcision and he misses his friends
in Germany. A small but beautiful short
story about childhood, coming of age
and an exceptional friendship.
BAGHDAD MESSI
Sahim Omar Kalifa
Fiction / Iraq / 2013 / 16’30’’
Iraq, 2009 Little Hamoudi (10) is totally
obsessed with soccer. Just as the rest
of the world, he and his friends are
eagerly looking forward to the Champions League final FC Barcelona-Manchester United. The long awaited clash
between Messi and Ronaldo.
But then Hamoudi’s television breaks
down...
GOAL FOR MESSI
Gol de Messi
Christian León Brazao
Fiction / Spain / 2013 / 1’27’’
Juan, a retired Argentinian, wakes up
to watch the FC Barcelona game. It
seems that nothing could interfere him
from seeing the goals of his favorite
player, Lionel Messi. Nevertheless,
several situations will interfere with
his desire.
Steve Achiepo
Fiction / France / 2012 / 22’
Cergy, suburb of Paris. Bastien,
sixteen years old, has just won a
decisive match with his team. While he
celebrates the victory, Sekou, his best
friend, announces the stunning news
in front of all the teammates: Lauriane,
the attractive girl with the red scarf,
wishes to meet him...
2ANNAS IFF 35
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
MAN IN LATVIAN CINEMA
#1
#2
#3
23.09 / 18.00 / KKC
24.09 / 17.30 / KKC
27.09 / 16.00 / KKC
MAN IN LATVIAN CINEMA – DOORMAT, SYMBOL AND SURVIVOR
ANTI-HEROES
In the history of the Latvian cinema (partly due to
the one-dimensional ideology of the Soviet Union),
male characters were not given much of a range to express themselves – they were either positive, or negative, without too many intermediate states to choose
from. The films chosen for this 2ANNAS programme
nevertheless reveal that a man CAN be as extraordinary as to shock and embarrass the people of his time,
that he encourages us to sympathize with him or take
his actions with a grain of salt, in any case, not remain
indifferent, even nowadays.
For instance, the egoistical and cowardly Harijs
Maurs, who was almost denied the chance to be the
main character of a film, because the imagined “reality” of the Soviet times would not accept men like him
in leading roles – they were simply to be ignored.
It was also not easy for Juris Podnieks and Arnolds
Plaudis to talk honestly about the Latvian Riflemen,
Strēlnieku zvaigznājs
1982, colour, 52’
As a rule, a man is a victor, a conqueror, a hero.
In this programme, everything is vice versa. A man
does not conquer, and his journey leads Nowhere.
He is being consumed by the swamp of life (Meeting
The Son), he is forced to leave home and fatherland
(How We Left Home), he loses his identity (Passport)
and makes a mistake confused by his feelings
(Agent Falls In Love).
Memorable actors, solid directing and the power
of discovery!
LOOKING FOR A MAN
Meklēju vīrieti
1983, b&w, 51’
MEETING THE SON, Kārlis Piesis, 1964
36
who, as it turns out, did not just innocently protect Lenin in Kremlin.
Whereas Ivars Seleckis’ film, logically continuing
the socio-publicistic journey that was started in the
film The Woman Who Is Expected?, clearly and somewhat didactically divides men into the right and wrong
ones, although 30 years later everything looks completely different – everyone is trying to survive in the
place determined for them by fate.
Characteristically, a woman is that litmus paper
which without error reveals the chemical contents of a
man, even if she is only Anniņa in the riflemen’s songs,
or an anonymous blonde woman one meets at a ball
for those who are over thirty, or the powerful Ieva from
Harijs Maurs’ life in Astrīda Kairiša’s film. You did not
think that a programme focusing on Men would be
possible without Women, did you?
BUTTERFLY DANCE
Tauriņdeja
1971, colour, 98’
THE RIFLEMEN CONSTELLATION
HOW WE LEFT HOME, Pēteris Krilovs, 1986
Curated by Kristīne Matīsa
The chief editor of the magazine Kino Raksti, a film
historian, the National Film Centre field information
specialist, an author and editor of books focused on
film, and at times, an enthusiastic curator of Latvian
film programs.
PASSPORT, Augusts Sukuts, 1985
AGENT FALLS IN LOVE, Gatis Šmits, 2004
Kurators Agris Redovičs, kino zinātnieks
2ANNAS IFF 37
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
HARDIJS LEDINS’ SCREENING
22.09 / 17.00 / KINO BIZE
„GOODBYE EMPIRE” Atvadas no impērijas
Video provocation (1991/1996)
Concept: Hardijs Lediņš and Māra Ķimele
Video: Valdis Poikāns
Foto: Valts Kleins
Members of the rally: Uldis Anže, Ivars Auziņš, Artis Dzērve, Elita Būdniece, Daiga Gaismiņa, Milena Gulbe, Ilze, Elita Jundze,
Rēzija Kalniņa, Valts Kleins, Māra Ķimele, Pēteris Ķimelis, Hardijs Lediņš, Edgars Podnieks, Ivars Stonins, Uldis Valters, Nora
Veignere, Uģis Vītiņš, Andris Zeibots, Agnese Zeltiņa and others.
Music: Hardijs Lediņš, Whiteship
Stage design: Anita Kreituse
Costumes: Bruno Birmanis, Uģis Rūķītis
Director: Elita Būdnice
The rally took place in September 1991 in different Russian cities, when several young actors and authors of the project headed there. It was a bus trip around the Russian Golden Circle1 – a
journey which lasted approximately two weeks and was organised
by Māra Ķimele and Hardijs Lediņš. The main goal of the journey
was an exchange trip of Māra Ķimele’s young actor students to a
theatre school in Yaroslavl, however, several stops in Soviet cities
where made along the way, during which provocative rallies and
happenings were created, satirizing the lost Soviet Empire.
The photographer Valts Kleins recollects the trip in the following way: „Hardijs understood that the Soviet Union was on the
1 Russian Golden Circle - Riga, Moscow, The Holy Trinity – St Sergius Lavra, Aleksandrov, Suzdaļ, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Uglich, Mishkin, Kashin, Tver and Staritsa.
38
brink of a collapse, that it was drawing its final breaths, and this
should be marked somehow. Not as a documentary, but ironically,
creatively, as far as that was possible. That is why Ķimele’s actor
group was invited, costumes rented and different theatrical props
created, then we hoped on the bus and toured the Russian Golden Circle. We blended in as an agitation brigade, touring around
the best cities of the Golden Circle, including Moscow, driving,
watching, performing. Endless happenings took place. We were
driving and saw a tank and an absurd sculpture dedicated to the
Soviet victories, and performed a happening there. We were at the
Mažeikiai oil factory… We visited the Exhibition of Achievements
of the National Economy, Hardijs was fishing at the Red Square.
We were swimming in all of it. And Hardijs was just like Bodhisatva, he did not get involved in useless dialogues. He would trigger a
situation and disappear.”2
The actors created various intriguing situations in day-to-day
environments. For instance, Artis Dzērve, dressed in a uniform,
decorated with medals, nobly marching across the Red Square,
Hardijs Lediņš with a fishing rod, fishing for something invisible in a
crowd of tourists next to Kremlin, Rēzija Kalniņa with a giant bunch
of keys thrown over her shoulder and a blue boyish haircut flirting
with a saxophone player wearing an executioner’s robe at the foot
of a fountain, Valts Kleins in a colourful 80s windbreaker, a Russian guide clothed in red accompanying a group and telling them
about the history of the most important places in Moscow. Andris
Zeibots with the mirror in the form of a crescent moon wearing a
Native American robe and hat, a guard following them around and
understanding nothing because he is Russian. But we are Latvians,
and that is what this video project celebrates – freedom, wearing
the worn-down clothes of the Soviet empire, using props. Next to
the Lenin Mausoleum at the Red Square, Artis Dzērve takes his hat
off, holds it against his chest, two women in green robes from the
actor group chain him up, handcuff him, and lead him away. All
while surrounded by a group of laughing children who are shouting,
“I am on camera!”
“We are mocking the structure of this giant collapsed empire – the
way it functions, the way it has reached its state of absurdity. We
tried to expand on the absurd in a decorative form.” – Valts Kleins
2 From Līga Lindenbauma’s interview with Valts Kleins from 27 April 2007.
2ANNAS IFF 39
FOCUS PROGRAMME
FOCUS PROGRAMME
IS IT EASY TO BE YOUNG?
JURIS PODNIEKS’ SHORT FILMS
25.09 / 22.00 / KINO BIZE
IS IT EASY TO BE YOUNG? Vai viegli būt jaunam? (1986)
26.09 / 20.00 / KKC
Directed by Juris Podnieks
The film honestly and emotionally tells about young people who are searching for their place in life. The film has a particular bite to it
since it reveals the imposed senselessness and hypocrisy of the Soviet regime. The characters of the film are young people who freely
talk about the taboo topics in society of the time – the war in Afghanistan, drugs, punks, the Krishna movement. The novice director
creates a film about his peers and shows that death is encountered at every step, a sixteen year old girl which is ready to jump out of
the window because she is accused of stealing, a young mother who is worried about her child’s future after the Chernobyl disaster,
a young man who is severely punished in a Cheka trial concerning destruction of a train – these different fates create the dramatic
narrative of the film, which begins with a rock concert in Ogre and ends with an old Afghan war veteran’s life lessons. The film Is It
Easy To Be Young? is an absolute phenomenon. Seen by millions in over 85 countries, it reinvigorated the interest in documentary film.
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BROTHERS KOKARS / BRĀĻI KOKARI (1987)
SIZIF ROLLS A STONE / VEĻ SĪZIFS AKMENI (1985)
Fascinating tale about two personalities, twins, orchestra conductors – Gido and Imants Kokars. Cinematographically stupendous film with a vast number of close-ups and honesty of
its characters, which allows for a realistic insight into their personalities, desires, ambitions, talent and humour as well as an
unparalleled visual metaphor – a slow motion shot in which the
two brothers, using their strength, stubbornness and perseverance, rise from the black water on water skies. The last shot
embodies the main idea of the film – a fanatical love for music
and diligent work helps the two brothers rise from their poor
childhood to the heights of the world music scene. Even the impossible is possible!
The script, co-written with sculptor Arnolds Plaudis, offers a realistic perspective on an artist’s fate in the totalitarian Soviet
regime. J. Podnieks honestly, sharply and unyieldingly reveals
an artist’s and his personal authorial freedom of choice and
responsibility in terms of relationships with power and society.
As eternal as the myth about Sizif who endlessly tries to roll a
stone up a mountain, an artist’s journey involves choosing the
roads not taken, expressing his ideas and convictions and being
ready to stand for them. Starring Arta Dumpe, Oļegs Skarainis
and Aivars Gulbis
MOUNT YOUR HORSES, BOYS! / PUIKAS, ZIRGOS! (1979)
AN HOUR OF SILENCE / KLUSUMA STUNDA (1992)
A film about boys and young men who sign up and train for a
pentathlon. The director’s experience in this sports fosters a
unique look into the atmosphere charged with emotional intensity, an inner battle which the young men have to fight as they
grow up. Instead of a nameless narrator, J. Podnieks included
the thoughts of the trainer Ainārs Leja and other athletes about
pentathlon and the meaning of the athletic work-outs in the subsequent life of the boys, regardless of the path they choose.
The film is dedicated to the memory of Juris Podnieks’ cameraman and friend Andris Slapiņš and Gvido Zvaizgne, who tragically perished in the 20th January 1991 fusillade on the Bastion Hill
in the Riga centre while on duty - bravely and selflessly capturing
the moments of that time. An Hour of Silence is the last film of
Juris Podnieks, which was finished shortly before the director’s
death in June of 1992.
.
Directed by Juris Podnieks
2ANNAS IFF 41
FOCUS PROGRAMME
IS IT EASY…? 20 YEARS LATER
27.09 / 20.00 / KKC
IS IT EASY…? 20 YEARS LATER / VAI VIEGLI…? PĒC 20 GADIEM
(2010)
Directed by Antra Cilisnska
Juris Podnieks’ legendary film Is It Easy To Be Young? created in 1986 was a strong narrative of that time, in which, through
the stories of different young people, one could perfectly piece
together the “machinery” of the Soviet regime. In it, a person
was just a small cog necessary for the operation of the overall
system. What surprises a modern viewer the most is the society’s attitude toward young people at the time, and the revelation of their complex inner worlds remains an eternal value.
All this makes Juris Podnieks’ film Is It Easy To Be Young? a
classic. It was interesting to capture these people 20 years later,
especially since many of them now have children of the same
age. This fact creates intrigue in the film, which focuses on the
themes of time, the state and the characters’ views on modern
youth now that they have families of their own – as well as their
children’s evaluation of life in Latvia and their thoughts about
their parents. Is It Easy…? 20 Years Later shows what became of
the generation which contributed to the collapse of the Soviet
system with a film in 1986.
PARTNER
SCREENINGS
ABOUT JURIS PODNIEKS
Riga Motion Pictures Studio, in which Juris Podnieks began
his documentary film career, had a long-standing tradition –
even the most famous of filmmakers worked not only on feature length productions, but also on short films and newsreels,
practising their authorial handwriting and portrayal of important
issues in the most concise way possible.
People’s responsibility for their time, nation and art are the
themes which unite all the films by Juris Podnieks included in
the programme, from the sharp depiction of the Latvian demographic in his directorial debut Cradle (Šūpulis), so uncharacteristic for the period of the Soviet stagnation, to self-expression
42
of the artistic conformism in the bright Sizif Rolls A Stone (Veļ
Sīzifs akmeni). Extraordinary in its intensity is the film The End
Of Empire (Impērijas gals), which focuses on the chain of symbols and metaphors reflecting the people and events leading up
to the collapse of the Soviet Union in August 1991.
“Death Has Come” are the concluding words in Juris Podniks’ last film An Hour of Silence (Klusuma stunda). Its final shot
can be interpreted as a reference to Ingmar Bergman’s film The
Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet, 1957), in which Death takes
almost everyone. Only artists remain - Art remains.
Inga Pērkone
2ANNAS IFF 43
PARTNER SCREENINGS
PARTNER SCREENINGS
EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM NOMINATIONS #2
EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM NOMINATIONS #1
22.09 / 17.00 / KKC
26.09 / 20.00 / KINO BIZE
Grimstad Short Film Nominee
Valladolid Short Film Nominee
Locarno Short Film Nomine
Drama Short Film Nominee
Venice Short Film Nominee
Tampere Short Film Nominee
Krakow Short Film Nominee
Ghent Short Film Nominee
DINOLA დინოლა
THE MISSING SCARF
SHIPWRECK
STILL GOT LIVES
DAILY BREAD ‫םחל תפ‬
WALL Fal
SUMMER 2014 Lato 2014
WHALE VALLEY Hyalfjord
Mariam Khatchyani
Fiction / Georgia / 2013 / 14’38’’
In the harsh mountainous countryside
of Svaneti (Georgia) happiness is brief
and the love of life of the Dina dies.
Tradition says she must marry to the
first man who offers his hand and
leave her child...
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The Missing Scarf
Eoin Duffy
Animation / Ireland/ 2013 / 6’35’’
Albert the Squirrel makes a startling
discovery... an empty space where
once his favourite scarf lay. He heads
off into the forest only to find everyone
else preoccupied with worries of their
own. He helps who he can before
moving on but never seems to get any
closer to his goal.
Morgan Knibbe
Documentary / Netherlands / 2014 /
14’57’
On October 3 2013, a boat carrying 500
Eritrean refugees sunk off the coast
of the Italian island Lampedusa. More
than 360 people drowned. Abraham,
one of the survivors, walks through a
graveyard of shipwrecks and vividly remembers the nightmarish experience.
Ich hab noch auferstehung
Jan-Gerrit Seyler
Fiction / Germany / 2013 / 23’
Marco and Lisa are in love. Online,
they fight side by side against dreadful
monsters. However, Lisa refuses to
meet Marco in real life. When one day
she stops showing up for the game,
Marco decides to go searching for her.
He finds a new world. And learns real
dread.
Idan Hubel
Fiction / Israel / 2014 / 18’
Jonathan loves chocolate. One day he
steals the last remaining chocolate in
the jar. When his stepmother catches
him and his brothers ostracize him, he
decides to run away.
Night falls and the cold, the hunger and
fear beckon him to return home. But a
glimmer of light in the darkness draws
him nearer, as he discovers in himself
a greater longing, showing him the way
to his true path.
Simon Szabó
Fiction / Hungary / 2013 / 11’
Laci is a 16-year old gypsy boy, who
lives off casual jobs. One day, he gets
picked up from the streets along with a
small group of workers for a construction job. He has to participate in the
completion of a wall, that surrounds a
series of tenement buildings. The film
follows the various stages of the construction as Laci helps out the other
workers. After completing the work he
takes a look beyond the wall, which
holds an unusual revelation for him.
Wojclech Sobczyk
Animation / Poland / 2014 / 12’
Harsh but poetic, the film is a treaty
about the desire of domination and
violence as the driving force of history,
shown in the spectrum of grey. After
a great battle, the surrounding landscape, devoured by great fire, looks
apocalyptic. Meaningless flags flutter
in a dead field.
Guđmundur Arnar Guđmundsson
Fiction / Denmark, Iceland / 2013 / 15’
The film shows a strong bond between
two brothers that live in a remote fjord
with their parents. We look into their
world through the eyes of the younger
brother and follow him on a journey
that marks a turning point in the
brothers’ lives.
2ANNAS IFF 45
PARTNER SCREENINGS
EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM NOMINATIONS #3
26.09 / 22.00 / KINO BIZE
Cork Short Film Nominee
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film
Nominee
LITTLE BLOCK OF CEMENT WITH
DISHEVELLED HAIR CONTAINING
THE SEA
PRIDE
PEQUEÑO bloque de cemento con
pelo alborotado conteniendo el mar
Jorge López Navarrete
Fiction / Spain / 2013 / 16’
A dog and a mare embark upon a
voyage together. With every step they
take, the differences between them
become inevitably clearer, and yet
the profound mutual knowledge they
develop over time shows the potential
to suddenly produce a luminous
moment between the two.
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Pavel Vesnakov
Fiction / Bulgaria, Germany / 2013 /30’
A man of habit confronts a world in
transition in his own kitchen.
Berlin Short Film Nominee
Sarajevo Short Film Nominee
TAPROBANA
EMERGENCY CALLS
Gabriel Abrantes
Fiction / Portugal, Denmark,
Sri Lanka / 2014 / 24’
Taprobana in the late 16th century. An
elephant wallows in the water. A man
relishes the time with his lover. A heroic epic must be written. A subjective
look at Portugal’s national hero LuÌs
Vaz de Camıes.
HÄTÄKUTSU
Hannes Vartiainen / Pekka Veikkolainen
Documentary / Finland / 2013 / 15’
Being a human is a fragile and fleeting
opportunity to experience life and
the universe around us. In the face
of overwhelming darkness all we can
do is to rely on and find solace in one
another.
The film is based on authentic
emergency calls and radio traffic.
SPECIAL EVENTS
2ANNAS IFF 47
SPECIAL EVENTS
SPECIAL EVENT
OPENING CEREMONY
PREMIERE SCREENING
25.09 / 19.00 / KSUNS
22.09 / 19.00 / SPLENDID PALACE, BIG HALL
2ANNAS 2015 is hosting the Latvian premiere for two Latvian short films!
BEATS OF THE EMPTY LAND
Tukšās zemes ritmi
Reinis Spaile
Fiction / Latvia / 2015 / 28’
Screening of THE GENERAL with live music
Fourteen year old Arvids lives in a small village and spends most of his time daydreaming about his future plans together with his best friend Klavs. One morning,
while jogging, Arvids unintentionally finds himself in a situation that makes him
witness a dreadful manifestation of his own ferocious nature. As a result, Arvids
starts to see an enviroment around him from a different perspective and ponders
on his own future inside it. Arvids is faced with a decision – to give in to pressure
of his peers or to take responsibility for the consequences of his own actions.
CANDY Cukierek
Laila Pakalniņa
Fiction / Latvia, Estonia / 2015 / 4’
Murderer is wanted in the city. Although nobody has been murdered
- as we find out at the end of the film. In any case – greetings to Fritz
Lang, our source of inspiration!
The focus MAN: A HERO. A LOVER. A FOOL perfectly captures the essence of both the film and its lead character played by the
legendary actor, director and comic Buster Keaton. Accordingly to the traditions of silent cinema, the film will be screened with live
music, written specifically for this event by the young composer Inita Jansone, who has previously musically interpreted the silent
film classic Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari.
THE GENERAL, Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton, comedy, USA, 1926, 79’’
When Union spies steal an engineer’s beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines.
COMPOSER: Inita Jansone
PERFORMED BY: Marita Karpa (accordion), Annija Kolerta (violin), Kristaps Karps (percussion), Inita Jansone (piano).
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2ANNAS IFF 49
ĪPAŠIE NOTIKUMI
STAND-UP
SPECIAL EVENTS
FELLINI AND MASTROIANNI
23.09 / 20.00 / KKC
27.09 / 14.00 / KSUNS
Women stand-up about men and cinema
Viktors Freibergs / Lecture: Fellini and Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni’s first collaboration with Fed8 funny women and Inga Gaile read witty essays
erico
Fellini in the film La Dolce Vita was a turning point
about men, cinema, manly cinema and cinema
without men. On September 23, at 20.00, Kaņepes in the career of the actor who was not very well known
at the time. Three years later, in the film 8 ½, Mastroikultūras centrs,15 Skolas Street.
anni played the alter ego of Fellini – it was Fellini’s film
number eight and a half since the first film was made
Featuring: Alise Zariņa, Aiva Birbele, Linda Curiha,
together with Alberto Lattuada, and he filmed one of
Dana Jurkjāne, Ieva Kauliņa, Elīna Kolāte,
the four episodes in Boccaccio. 8 ½ is a film about how
Anete Konste, Marta Elīna Martinsone and
a film is not being made, in which Mastroianni’s charkonferansjer Inga Gaile.
acter’s visions overlap with reality, until the lines between the two disappear.
Viktors Freibergs
Head of the Department of the Communication Sciences at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia. Reads lectures on Communication and
semiotics, Cinema and new media, Visual narrative in
cinema and others. Outside of the university, reads lectures on the history and theory of cinema at K Suns as
well as constantly collaborates with the Latvian office
of the Nordic Council of Ministers and others.
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DISCUSSION / 2ANNAS 20
24.09 / 19.00 / KINO BIZE
Discussion - 2ANNAS 20! From the Beginning Till Now
Celebrating the 20th anniversary, 2ANNAS festival invites the audience to take part in a discussion about
the innovative and experimental aspect in the art of filmmaking. We will look back at the time of 80s and
90s, when the young generation of Latvian filmmakers created their first, avant-garde shortfilms. Many of
these filmmakers are well known film and audiovisual industry professionals today. In this evening we will
meet with them and discuss the searches for the true cinema back from the 90s up until the 21st century.
Discussion will be held by film director Jānis Putniņš together with guests, among them film director
Juris Poškus, film producer Andrejs Ēķis, director of 2ANNAS festival Viesturs Graždanovičs, producer
Askolds Saulītis and the guests of the festival – film director Ramon Bloomberg from England and Laura
Walde from the short film festival in Switzerland.
The discussion will include films:
MISIJA KABULĀ, Andrejs Ēķis, 1989
COITUS, Arnis Rītups, Haralds Elcers, 1982
MOKAS JANVĀRĪ, Juris Poškus, 1991
XXX, Askolds Saulītis, 1989
THE ONLY WAY, Viesturs Graždanovičs, 1990
SISYPHUS SAID LET’S..., Jānis Putniņš, 1992
Free entrance, discussion in English (with translation)
2ANNAS IFF 51
2-6.12.2015
www.zubroffka.pl
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Come to Podlasie – the land of bison and film!
2ANNAS IFF 53
MAP
FESTIVAL TEAM
Viesturs Graždanovičs, festival director
Astra Zoldnere, programme director
Inita Jansone, programme coordinator
Marta Herca, publicity
Lauma Gailīte, coordinator
Jurijs Getalo, coordinator
Reinis Krastiņš, technical support
Kārlis Prauliņš, technical support
Ivars Mednis, technical support
Anete Liepa, design
Reinis Pētersons, design
Madara Dzintara - Pluša, design
Ildze Felsberga, programmer, curator
Laima Graždanoviča, programmer, curator
Jule Rozīte, programmer
Dārta Ceriņa, programmer
Linda lāce, programmer
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3
4
CATALOGUE TEAM
Coordinator: Inita Jansone
Text: Astra Zoldnere, Dana Indāne, Christoph Gabler, Laura Walde, Marta Herca,
Inita Jansone, Diāna Popova, Laima Graždanoviča, Ildze Felsberga, Kristīne Matīsa,
Agris Redovičs, Viktors Freibergs, Inga Pērkone
Design: Madara Dzintara - Pluša
Layout: Madara Dzintara - Pluša, Artūrs Dzintars
Translation: Olga Kijāna, Dana Indāne, Inita Jansone
Proof-reading: Ilze Bule, Mārtiņš Medens, Olga Kijāna
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2
1. KINO BIZE
Elizabetes street 37
2. KSUNS
Elizabetes street 83/85
3. KKC
Skolas street 15
4. SPLENDID PALACE
Elizabetes street 61
2ANNAS IFF 55
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