An ordinary old folks’ home on the Latvian border – one of many, where our parents, grand-parents and other relatives spend their old age. Theirs is the generation whose prime years co-existed with the Soviet Union, and who were promised: work, give all you can, and we’ll take care when you’re old. The system changed and the reality is different. How to live in this reality, accept the current rules, or live in the past and have regrets. We will touch upon their world, and the dreams and hopes of Vilnis, Imants, Alberts and Elizabete.
An ordinary old folks’ home on the Latvian border – one of many, where our parents, grand-parents and other relatives spend their old age. Theirs is the generation whose prime years co-existed with the Soviet Union, and who were promised: work, give all you can, and we’ll take care when you’re old. The system changed and the reality is different. How to live in this reality, accept the current rules, or live in the past and have regrets. We will touch upon their world, and the dreams and hopes of Vilnis, Imants, Alberts and Elizabete.
2014-11-05
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Dinārs is a Latvian schlager singer popular with the ladies and known for his big cat mane. The eponymous film follows his path over a turbulent season of work.
“The Inked Family” follows a couple of married Latvian-born tattoo artists – Anrijs and Monami Frost of online fame. They’re now living in Liverpool with their daughter, and their previous lives in Latvia seem almost surreal to them. The film traces Monami’s past, and the couple’s current lives and the success they’ve found as tattoo artists.
The film portrays the political situation in occupied Latvia 37 years ago, when writer Imants Ziedonis formed a group of like-minded peers into ‘’Dižkoku atbrīvotāji’’ – DAGi. Film reels and photos of the time show Imants Ziedonis and the DAGi participants – Māra Zālīte, Anna Žīgure, Roze Stiebra, Andris Buiķis, Vitolds Kucins and others. Today, with their contemporary experiences, they reflect on a time when the dream of an independent Latvia seemed impossibly far away. We’re Still Here reminds the younger generations that it’s possible to do good in the name your nation and its future not matter the circumstances.
A documentary that chronicles twin brothers searching for their absent father in faraway Russia. Having very few leads, the twin brothers – different in character and interests – are also looking for the ties that have never bound them as closely as they would have liked.
The documentary “Residents” probes problems in Latvia in general and Latvia’s medicine in particular with the story of two energetic young interns, Kārlis and Laura.
'Vadātājs' is an ancient Latvian mythological creature that leads people to Nowhere. As Latvia has been declared the most superstitious country in the EU, it is important to understand – what do we believe in? Three young filmmakers – a director, cinematographer and sound girl – question if Latvia is a lost country and if a Vadātājs has achieved enormous power by leading Latvian society into confusion. A search for a contemporary Vadātājs*, and the understanding of the origins of confusion within people in the 21st century.
A group of elders spends their weekdays in a retirement home in Sandim, in the north of Portugal, where they talk, do arts and crafts, practice yoga and pray. We follow them between October 2012 and March 2013, when an economic crisis overshadowed Portuguese society and unemployment rates reached record levels. Meanwhile, arrangements are made for the Carnival ball. Will they bring the first place home this time?
The story of five lesbian and gay seniors in the Northwest Florida region as they navigate coming out, identity, politics, and the challenges and victories inherent in the gay experience. The film weaves together interviews with fictionalized interludes of magical realism that capture their feelings and experiences.
Three juxtaposing stories taking place in Portugal, Austria and Cuba create an intimate and poetic portrait of the daily lives and struggles of the elderly in an unstable world, seen through the eyes of their grandchildren.
Line dancing is fast becoming a popular activity among senior citizens. This presents line dancing from an instructional, yet entertaining perspective. Join Dr. Grant Longley, an expert Line Dance instructor, as he guides a class step-by-step through five dances.
Deniss is a Russian-speaking young man working at a fast food chain and spending his days in a small, gloomy apartment where all the things still remind him of his dead grandmother. Once a week he takes the stage, becoming a stand-up comedian. His jokes come from his life, which might be called dull as well as bleak, and, as he puts it, his ‘uninteresting biography’.
Estelle Getty, from "The Golden Girls" TV show, presents a complete body conditioning workout that's safe, effective and so much fun you'll hardly know you're exercising! Created by professional trainer and fitness expert Raphael Picaud especially for those 55 or over, it's a gentle workout designed to boost overall health while improving muscle strength, bone density, flexibility and balance. Featuring four levels of intensity from which to choose, the entire workout can even be done sitting down, with real results.From the easy warm-up to the refreshing, body-toning workout, to the relaxing cool-down, it's a workout with a sense of humor...that's serious about helping you shape up. Start today, follow Estelle's routine regularly and you'll soon have more energy, find daily chores easier to do and feel remarkably "Young at Heart".
A short documentary examining the consequence of time within the fragility of memory, exposing a sense of self, trapped within materiality and fantasy. We observe Chrystalla in her safe place, her home, reflecting on her childhood, her successful beauty business in 70s Cyprus and her deeply troubled marriage. Loneliness, abandonment and regret are prevailing themes within cycles of reflection, jest and contradiction.
The documentary chronicles the life stories of two brothers, Kristaps and Krists. Kristaps, the elder brother, is disabled and has trouble talking, but he can rap. His younger brother Krists is one of the best freestyle BMX bikers in Latvia.
Chronicles the first-ever, senior citizen hip-hop dance team for the New Jersey Nets Basketball team, 12 women and man - all dance team newbies, from auditions through to center court stardom.
This film probes the activities of the bezvests.lv NGO that looks for missing persons and instructs others on how to find them. Since they started in 2009, they’ve helped find more than 90 people who had gone missing. It follows volunteers during training and on a search mission – theirs is a nerve-wracking task as in many cases they only locate the expired body of the missing person.
Manipulation, coercion, humiliation, aggression. Hidden cameras captured the rough background of the seniors' demonstration events. What really happens on the popular free lunch tours? Practices that give you chills. Lies and deliberate manipulation, the sole purpose of which is to force defenseless old people to buy overpriced goods. Seniors pay exorbitant sums from their meager pensions for often low-quality products. Some of them worry that they will never go to any event again, others can't stand it and go again. What drives them? Curiosity? Loneliness? Or addiction?
The three speakers represent two of the dialects, with the most common one - the middle dialect spoken in Riga and central parts of Latvia - not featured in the film. In intimate surroundings, a farmer, a schoolteacher, and a herder of ostriches talk about perceived differences between Latvian speakers, and about language policy and their lives.
A documentary portrait chronicling the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became the United States' most famous sex therapist. As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and her career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.
Lords of Riga allows to see an insight into a passionate subculture of bike couriers. Weaving their way through the urban traffic, they have become silent and sometimes unnoticed witnesses of everyday life in Riga as well as examples of our modern-day society. What is freedom to this bunch of rebellious messengers and where it ends?