Event info

Hi, Rasma!

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - 2015

Latvians often ponder why their neighbours the Estonians live as well as they do. So why is that? Could the answer have some connection with the Latvian cargo ship Rasma, that sank near Mohni Island 70 years ago?

Short Film About Life

Latvia - 2014

Eight men line up on a football course. They prepare themselves, shift their feet and wait for the piercing cry of the whistle. The title says it all. The film is short and it revolves around life itself.

Hótel og bolti

Latvia - 2014

The film is about wondering why the world is the place it is.” That’s how Laila Pakalnina describes Hotel and a Ball. From a hotel window we see a football field and observe what goes on there. Then we enter the hotel, where we find people eating, cleaning and talking. Two different points of view are juxtaposed in this poetic and amusing film, the point of view of the ball and that of the hotel.

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Laila Pakalnina

Laila Pakalnina is a director and scriptwriter. She has a very definitive style, her work is both serious and humorous and it could be said that she is the Aki Kaurismäki of documentary films.

Pakalnina was born in Latvia in 1962. She studied filmmaking at the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK) and has made various types of film but mostly focused on documentaries. Pakalnina’s documentaries show a side of the world that might seem quite inconsequential. They show people going about their daily lives, skiing, fishing or playing football. Through her brilliant use of montage she shows that these daily routines are anything but uninteresting, they are packed with humor and drama. Pakalnina has been nominated for a multitude of international awards including the Palme d’Or and the Golden Bear for her short films. She has been awarded won prizes at the Latvian National Film Festival multiple times, as well as at other festivals such as Karlovy Vary and the Rome Film Fest.

Pakalnina is incredibly skilled at using imagery, sound and montage - the unique language of cinema - to tell big, multi-layered stories. Her films show daily life in a fresh and whimsical manner and invite the audience to look for the extraordinary within the ordinary.