33 Zveri Ziemassvetku Vecitim
Laila Pakalniņa
Latvia | 2011 | 50 min
Language : Latvian
Subtitle : English
Santa Claus lives on the fourth floor of an apartment block. Santa owns seven dogs, six cats, two rabbits, one crow, one pigeon, one chinchilla, one guinea pig, ten degus and some fish. “If there are heartless movies (and there are!), then we also need ones that attest to kindness.” (LP)
Santa Claus is Livia, an elderly woman living in a grey building remindful of the soviet era, surrounded by her animals. Livia owns 7 dogs, 6 cats, 2 rabbits, 1 crow, 1 pigeon, 1 chinchilla, 1 guinea pig, 10 degus and some fish. “Some may call Livia different, maybe even strange. I think she is simply better and more generous than others. And better than me, for sure. When I think about why this generous and considerate person is so much more so than others, I realize, that it has something to do with the balance of things in this world - when there is more cold-heartedness somewhere, there is more goodness in Livia. This is the feeling I took with me when creating this film. If there are heartless movies (and there are:), then we also need ones that attest to kindness. And yet I noticed that, although experiencing moral and artistic gratification during the filming process, I didn't want to tell family and friends about it. I didn't want to use words to tell the story. I want to let the film do the talking for itself.” Laila Pakalnina