Programme

Documentary film programme in collaboration with VFS Films

Roof on the Moonway (30 min, 2001, directors Māris Maskalāns and Andis Mizišs)

In the early 1980s, two hundred pairs of common terns (Sterna hirundo) were forced to abandon their last natural nesting place on a river island near a major European capital – Riga. Looking for a new habitat, the birds chose the flat pebbled roof of a concrete island – a printing house – in the middle of the city. The first generation of birds to grow up on this roof and fly to southern Africa every winter have covered the distance from the Earth to the Moon. During the film, various human attitudes towards the terns will emerge. The attitude of the birds is clear – they view things from above.

Dreamland (52 min, 2004, directors Laila Pakalniņa and Māris Maskalāns)

There are places that we do not want to know about, places that we would rather pretend did not exist at all. One such place is a dumpsite. Yet this seemingly unattractive desert of rubbish provides a home for countless living creatures – insects, reptiles, birds and mammals. For them, the dumpsite is an elite habitat that offers food and warmth to its inhabitants all year long. Māris Maskalāns, surprises with his acuity and patience, which allow him to spend hours at a bird's nest or rat's hole in order to eventually shoot his outstanding images. Laila Pakalniņa meanwhile turns this choreography of the animal world into an intuitively intricate, wordless metaphor set to music composed by the Japanese composer Umebayashi Shigeru, the author of scores for several films by Wong Kar-wai. In 2005, Dreamland was nominated for the European Film Academy Documentary Award.

Lubāns - The Battle for Centimeters (29 min, 2001, directed by Dainis Kļava)

Lubāns Lake, the largest lake in Latvia, floods its surroundings every spring. Attempts to control the floods have been made since the 19th century. Nowadays, the lake is surrounded by dams, and it no longer poses a threat to the nearby houses. However, the apparent safety has come at a high price - the natural balance has been disrupted. Can the damage be repaired? Two Latvians embark on a journey to the wetlands of Japan in search of a possible solution.

Who Has Seen the Roller? (29 min, 2004, directed by Māris Maskalāns)

Experts believe that there are ten pairs of European Rollers (Coracias garrulus) in Latvia. In 1997, one of these birds was hit by a car. Biologist Edmunds Račinskis tries to promote the nesting of European Rollers in Latvia by installing artificial birdhouses. However, people are too preoccupied to pay attention to these rare birds, and they consider the European Roller as a symbol rather than a real bird species.