Laila Pakalnina — Director (10)

Movie

The Oak (1997)
Ozols IMDb TMDB
other title: El roble / Ozols
The oak tree in Seja is roughly 700 years old. Around this monumental tree, the peaceful and repetitive life goes on in the village, a group of houses in the middle of the forest. It is an almost unworldly existence in a condition of absolute simplicity where people are grateful for a hot cup of coffee and a good potato harvest.

Movie

Spoon (2019)
Karote WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: La Cuillère / Karote
A film about a plastic spoon and a society that has reached a high level of development – oil is being retrieved from subterranean depths, transported to processing plants, turned into plastic, transported to another plant, where it acquires the shape of a spoon, transported to convenience stores, where we buy it, and is then soon tossed into the trash. In other words, this is a film about the efforts put into making a spoon that can be thrown away so effortlessly.

Movie

The Python (2003)
Pitons WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Pitons
An absurdist farce centering around a school in post-Soviet Latvia. After a rather disgusting prank (someone defecates in the school attic), the tyrannical headmistress deems that no one can leave until the culprit is caught. When the photographer's pet python escapes, havok breaks loose.

Movie

Pizzas (2012)
Picas WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Picas
Playfully avant-garde and exhibiting an intriguing sense of humor, PIZZAS offers a puzzle of widescreen imagery, brash pop moments, and road movie ambience. Pakalnina, Latvia’s best-known director, spun this cryptic but airy comedy/tragedy from a news item about two 18-year-old fast-food workers who robbed their employer’s safe and split. (Gene Siskel Film Center)

Movie

Dawn (2015)
Ausma WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Ausma / 黎明公社
Based on a Soviet propaganda story about Young Pioneer (the Soviet equivalent of a Boy Scout) Morozov, who denounced his father to Stalin’s secret police and was in turn killed by his family. His life exemplified the duty of all good Soviet citizens to become informers, at any expense. In our film, 75 years later, we call him little Janis. He is a Pioneer who lives on the Soviet collective farm “Dawn”. His father is an enemy of the farm (and the Soviet system) and plots against it. Little Janis betrays his father; his father takes revenge upon his son. Who then in this old Soviet tale is good and who is bad? This film reveals that a distorted brain is always dangerous. Even today.

Movie

Waterfall (2016)
Rumba WikiData TMDB
other title: Rumba
Waterfall and I, and – no, the other way around! This film is, of course, about nature – human nature. Or – what a human can do with the widest waterfall in Europe.

Movie

The Hostage (2006)
Ķīlnieks WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
莱拉·帕卡琳娜 actor: Branko Zavrsan / Kristaps Mednis …
other title: 仝人质 / Ķīlnieks …
The Hijacker lands the plane at the Rīga Airport. 7 year-old Tom, travelling on his own, voluntarily becomes a hostage. Along with the traditional demands, the Hijacker adds the demands of the little hostage – beginning with some local chocolate and a self-instruction tape for learning the native language, and ending with organizing a Song Festival and a special biathletes’ performance – all ideas originating from a CD on Latvia.