Writing
DocuDrama about 13th century pre-Christian culture. Danish spy Lars enters the tribal lands of the Baltic peoples, where he takes part in religious rites, cruel forays, gets high during the Summer Solstice, becomes slave to the Couronians and even fights the crusaders. Who were the last pagans of Europe and how did they live? It is a unique trip into the textures of the past and into the unknown lands of the Baltic Tribes.
Curonians is a historical documentary about one of the ancient Baltic tribes. The Curonians lived in the western parts of modern-day Latvia from the 5th until the 16th century. They eventually merged with other Baltic peoples to form the Latvian nation. The docu-mentary utilizes reenacted scenes, interviews with known historians and 3D animation to tell the story of this brave warrior tribe. They were feared even by their Scandinavian neighbors and remained one of the last remaining pagan tribes in Europe. Evidence of Curonian rituals can be found as late as the 19th century. The film offers a brief insight into their lives, culture, customs and beliefs. It tells about their moments of strength, victory and also their defeats.
The film offers an audiovisual narrative of the making of the longest-running and most extensive publication in Latvian folklore—a project spanning over 70 years. What does it mean to “write down” folk songs? How does a song travel from oral tradition to the printed page? What ideological and financial challenges had to be overcome to publish the volumes? Through archival footage and scenes from the compilers’ everyday work, the film explores what it means to live with folk songs—told by the editors themselves.
