On May 30, a new feature film dedicated to the Song Festival “Kolektivs” will be released on the big and small screens of Latvia. The film will be shown at once in two formats – in cinemas as a full-length film and on LMT smart television as a series.
The film “Collective” consists of four short stories shot by different directors. One of the authors (and the only non-Latvian in this company) is Aiks Karapetjans.
– Aik, you are a bright representative of the so-called auteur cinema. Your film “MOЖ.” (“The Man in the Orange Vest”) is known as the first real Latvian horror film, while the last work – the mystically philosophical film “Sema’s Travels” – was shot in the genre of black comedy. What attracted you to the “Collective” project, dedicated to such a realistic theme as the Festival of Songs?
– I haven’t made short films for a long time and I perceived this work as a kind of toy, a director’s exercise. Of course, you won’t tell much in 10 minutes, but it was interesting for me to work on this project, to try mass scenes – we employ up to 30 people in the frame.
– Did you contact the project colleagues?
– No, I did not contact at all. As far as I know, 8 directors are attached to “Collective”. Films are already ready for four, one starts shooting right away, and the others are waiting for their turn. I know many of the project participants personally, but we did not discuss this film with them. I hope that they will all be completely different short stories – both in terms of genre, style and mood. Everyone has their own story.
– What is yours about?
– About self-sacrifice.
– Stop it! It’s a comedy…
– We got a kind of mystical thriller. The name of my film is “Degsme”. The main character is an Australian Latvian who is passionate about folk dances and comes to Latvia to fulfill his dream – to perform at the Festival of Songs as part of a local group. But he is not taken there because he did not participate in the rehearsals. And then they still take him, but with one condition – he has to pass a small test… That’s all, I won’t say a word anymore, so that the intrigue remains.
– This plot reminded me of your last film “Sam’s Travels” – there, too, the hero, a foreigner, arrives in Latvia, and then something like that begins!
– In “Collective”, everything is much more optimistic.
– Why did you decide to make a film about dancers instead of singers?
– It’s just that the dance is more cinematic, it has more dynamics.
– Who plays the main roles?
– The Australian was played by Liepāja theater actor Rolands Beķeris, two female roles were played by Ieva Florence-Vīksne and Līga Zeļģe.
– Latvian ex-prime minister Einars Repše starred in the short story by Aivars Čivželas, he played a conductor. Will you also have any recognizable faces?
– One of the roles is played by Agris Danilēvičs. He staged the dances for our film and played the role of the team leader himself.
– Have you ever sung in a choir or danced?
– No, never.
– Have you ever been to the Song Festival?
– No, I just saw it on TV. To be honest, I have little interest in folklore – not only Latvian, but any in general. Folk art is the fruit of collective work, but I am more interested in works created not by a collective, but by a specific author. I think that the Song Festival is more of a festival when you are physically in it, when the energy overwhelms you. And thanks to the movie, I could feel it to some extent.
– What are your immediate plans?
– I produced a film by a local director and am preparing for a performance at the New Riga Theater. At the moment, the playwright Justini Kliavas and I are writing a play – it will be an absurd comedy about the year 1995 in Riga. We will start rehearsals in August, the premiere in October.
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2023-05-30 08:13:42
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