Ivars Seleckis and the Children
Good news indeed from Riga, where I am at the Baltic Sea Docs for the rest of the week. Arriving I read on FNE News – link below – that the Latvians have done what the Lithuanians did with Arunas Matelis film “Wonderful Losers” – they took a documentary as their Oscar candidate. Here is a copy paste:
“Veteran filmmaker Ivars Seleckis’s
documentary To Be Continued has been selected as Latvia’s official entry for the US Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category.
Shot over the course of two years, the film follows seven children in various parts of Latvia. They are seven children at the intersection of various historical, social and economic processes. What are the skills, values and hopes instilled into them by the legacy of the past and the reality of today?
The film was produced by Mistrus Media and it was supported by the National Film Center of Latvia.
To Be Continued is one of the most successful productions of the Latvian Films for Latvia’s Centenary programme. Its international premiere took place at the Visions du Réel International Documentary Film Festival in Nyon in 2018.”
And another copy paste from my review of the film on this site:
“Dear Ivars, dear friend, dear master. I have seen your film. I love it. As FILM and as one who has the age of a grandfather and very often are blessed with visits from kids at the same age as those in your film: 2 are 6 years old and have just started in school, 2 are 4 years old. Children are children, wherever they are and I could recognize so many ways of behaviour, so many reactions, facial expressions, clever reflections and thoughts about the world we live in. As you say in the beginning of the film: May they live in peaceful times…”
Tonight there is the national premiere of “Bridges of Time” by Kristine Briede and Audrius Stonys, that is an homage to the poetic Baltic documentary cinema. Ivars Seleckis is one of the directors, who appear in the film.
