Pelikans tuksnesi
Kairish Viestur
Latvia | 2014 | 70 min
World premiere
Language : Latvian
Subtitles : English, French
On the eastern edge of Europe, a place seemingly isolated from the world and doomed to disappear, Latgale: once home to a predominantly Jewish population, is now the bastion of Catholicism in Latvia. A poetic and visionary film that depicts a world surrounded by lakes, suspended between water and sky, fire and earth, between death and the hope of redemption.
On the edges of Europe, in a place seemingly isolated from the world and doomed to disappear, Latgale, once home to a predominantly Jewish population, is now a refuge for colonies of Orthodox Old Believers. It is also the stronghold of the Catholic Church in Latvia. Haunted by faith, subjected to extreme living conditions, the population shares its time between rural activities and religious ceremonies. Exacerbated by the sublime landscape and made desolate by the many large lakes surrounding it, a feeling of loss of the unique way of life that made this region so special and mysterious predominates. The omnipresence of physical death is answered by the hope of redemption, both reinforced by precise editing and the use of highly evocative music. A poetic and visionary film that depicts a universe – rather in the style of Tarkovsky – suspended between water and sky, between fire and earth.
Emilie Bujès
