For the first time in the history of observations, Latvian Russian-speakers consider orientation of the country’s foreign policy course towards the West more desirable than looking towards the East, the public opinion research center SKDS found out in a recent survey. This milestone coincides with that of Latvian film director Stanislav Tokalov Saturday said in this interview: Latvian (Latvians) or the attitude of Latvian Russians towards the country of Latvia changes depending on the generation, and the war in Ukraine has only accelerated this process.
These days, Tokalova (operator Valdis Celminņš, the same one who is also the director of films Blizzard of souls cameraman) documentary Everything will be fine – a personal and open portrayal of the integration process by filming the women of three generations of their family. The main character in the film is actually Stanislav’s mother Irina, a mathematics teacher at the university. Her mother Nina, a veteran of the Second World War, who came to Latvia in 1955, is already of such a respectable age at the time of filming that she does not follow the discussions and does not participate in them. On the other hand, for Stanislav’s sister Patricija, just like for himself, May 9, around which the main events of the film revolve in a narrow multi-storey apartment, just like around the New Year’s celebration, no longer means nearly what it means to their grandmother and mother.
The audience’s reviews of the film are radically different, starting with “I’m not going to delve into the problems of the vatniks” and ending with accusations against Tokalov that he betrayed the Russian cause. Kino Tokalov is not a beginner, in 2014 he won Kristaps the Great for the best short film A little longer. His first feature film What they don’t see premiered in 2017 at the Moscow International Film Festival. Now Stanislav is filming a TV series Soviet jeans about Latvia at the end of the 70s. Our conversation took place in the evening after the filming, which Stanislav had started at four in the morning that day.
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