LIELAIS KRISTAPS
In Soviet mythology there was a popular tale about a boy, Pavlik Morozov, who informed on his father who was discontent with the Soviet government, which resulted in Pavlik’s being murdered by his own family. For Soviet propaganda Morozov’s ‘feat’ was a clear example of how any Soviet citizen should live: become an informer whatever the price.
In this film, more than 80 years after Pavlik, the boy is named Jānis; he lives in Soviet Latvia, in the kolkhoz called ‘Ausma’. His father is an enemy of the Soviet state who is planning a conspiracy; the son gives him away, and the father takes revenge. Who is the right one here? The film shows how a ‘twisted’ mind is dangerous in any times. Even nowadays.
The film’s cinematographer Wojciech Staron received an award at the Tallinn International Film Festival Black Nights (2015). In 2016, the film was also awarded a prize for the visual solution at Zerkalo festival, named after the great director Andrei Tarkovsky’s film The Mirror. The film is longlisted in this year’s European Film Awards Feature Film Selection among the 50 best European films to be competing for the award.
