Dawn
Dawn
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1h 36m
Directed by Laila Pakalniņa • 2015 • Latvia
At once an homage to and a subversive reimagining of Soviet cinematic heritage, Laila Pakalniņa’s Dawn is one of post-independence Latvia’s most crucial films. Pakalniņa draws on the Stalinist propaganda myth of Pavlik Morozov: an ardent Pioneer who was killed by his family after denouncing his own father as a traitor to the Soviet cause. This parable of communist conviction – which was famously the basis for Sergei Eisenstein’s unfinished Bezhin Meadow – is transported here to postwar Latvia, as Pakalniņa draws out the sinister and uncanny qualities of the source material.
DAWN • AUSMA
Written and directed by Laila Pakalniņa
Cinematography by Wojciech Staron
Music by Vestards Šimkus
Starring: Vilis Daudziņš, Antons Grauds, Andris Keišs
In Latvian with English subtitles
Up Next in Dawn
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Laila Pakalniņa on the making of Dawn
Klassiki meets with Latvian director Laila Pakalniņa to discuss her 2015 film Dawn. Laila tells us about her long history with the material, how the film relates to Soviet cinema, and the lessons she brought to the production from her work in documentary.