Ivars Seleckis 90 Years Old
Dear Ivars. Paldies for your extraordinary life-long documentary work and congratulations on this birthday! If anyone, you have introduced me to your country, its history and culture and its citizens, in all ages. Much appreciated that you with “To Be Continued” number one and now two (together with Armands Začs) have included the children… With warmth and passion and great skills. Poetry!
I have been thinking about the many many occasions, where we have met. On Bornholm in the 1990és for the Baltic Film & TV Festival. You were there year after year with films. And in your country when you took my wife and me for a trip to the countryside drinking champagne at a lake together with Romualds Pipars! And when we visited the location of “Crossroad Street” together with scriptwriter Tālivaldis Margēvičs and said hello to Horseradish Peter and his wife from the film. Of course this is one of your masterpieces that you continued 10 and 20 years later. Latvian history writing.
I am looking at your filmography and see that you were cameraman for your Poetic School of Baltic Documentaries colleagues Uldis Brauns, Herz Frank and Aivars Freimanis, all of them like you protagonists in the film “Bridges of Time” by Audrius Stonys and Kristine Briede. Kristine and Uldis Cekulis invited me to take part in a research trip for that film. It was a wonderful experience and exhausting for me as you have always been in a much better shape than me (I am13 years younger); it was simply difficult to follow you around. It was on this occasion that we were photographed together in a photo booth. Uldis “commemorated” this at the Baltic Sea Docs this year!
And we were abroad together at ZagrebDox, where we both were awarded by festival director Nenad Puhovski. You for “To Be Continued”, me for having been at the festival, when it started. Lelda Ozola was with you and the three of us had a fine time together, including (my idea) that we should watch a football match together. We did and your documentary curiosity unfolded completely. You “read” the game as if you had been a connaisseur for ages.
And and… the opening of the symposium where we participants climbed to the top of Elizabeth Church in Riga to celebrate the opening with a glass of champagne. By the way thanks for introducing me to different kind of Latvian Schnaps, you had always a small bottle in your pocket.
Last time we met was at the reception after the opening of the film screenings of the Baltic Sea Docs. You were there, had a glass or two and were surrounded by your many admirers, including me. You showed us a photo of yourself as a young man. Beautiful. And you had some comments to the cinematography of the opening Georgian film, kind and generous remarks. As so often Lelda was next to us translating when needed.
A day after I met Davis Simanis jr. who said that you were the last of a generation of classical observational humanistic documentarians. He was worried, who will take over. I hope he is not right, and I am sure that you are already working on your next film. It’s in your blood!
Happy Birthday to a master!
