Juris Podnieks: Hello do You Hear Us?
No film-visit to Riga without the thinking back to Juris Podnieks and his contribution to world cinema. With an introduction by Lev Gushin, who took part in the scriptwriting of the five hour breathtaking perestroika documentary made for British television, the first of the five parts of ”Hello do You Hear Us?” were shown and proved to be as fascinating fresh and emotionally strong as when I saw it 20 years ago. I had forgotten how brilliantly the presence of composer Aleksei Rybnikov and his music links the parts of a film that bears the title Red Hot and includes chapters like the Armenian earthquake, the Jaroslavl factory, the Chernobyl aftermath and the Soviet Spring. The film is in itself a composition, rythmical and breaking the rules of classical dramaturgy. And can only again stress the director’s position as one of the most important political filmmakers ever.
I met Antra Cilinska, the editor of the series and all films Podnieks made until his tragic death in 1992, including the beautiful piece of patriotism, “Homeland”. Cilinska is the CEO of Juris Podnieks Studio and is currently planning the premiere of “Is it?” that is a follow-up of “Is it Easy to be Young?” and “Is it Easy to be” shot 20 and 10 years ago. The premiere will be on the 4th of May, the Latvian day of independence, and Cilinska herself is the director.
