Table Of ContentFROM THE PERSONAL TO THE PUBLIC:
JURIS PODNIEKS AND LATVIAN DOCUMENTARY CINEMA
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School of The Ohio State University
By
Maruta Zane Vitols, M.A.
*****
The Ohio State University
2008
Dissertation Committee:
Approved by
Professor J. Ronald Green, Adviser
Professor Lisa Florman
_________________________________
Professor Judith Mayne Adviser
History of Art Graduate Program
Copyright by
Maruta Zane Vitols
2008
ABSTRACT
In recent decades and particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
cinema scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to Eastern European
films and filmmakers. Yet, the rich film tradition of the Baltic States, particularly the
thriving Latvian national cinema, remains foreign to western cinema scholars. One
finds very little written in academia in this subject area, although the rapidly growing
economies and the increase of the political currency of the Baltic States have sparked
a new awareness of this geographical area. A fresh interest in Latvian filmmakers as
the voices of their society is emerging, stemming from the country’s rich cinema
history.
Within the realm of Latvian documentary filmmaking, one figure from recent
years shines as a star of the genre. Juris Podnieks (1950-1992) and his films hold a
privileged place in Latvian culture and history. His breakthrough feature Is It Easy to
Be Young? (1986) heralded the advent of a new era for Latvian and Soviet
documentary filmmaking accompanying the implementation of Gorbachev’s glasnost
plan in the Soviet Union. Podnieks took advantage of the new policy of openness and
employed Is It Easy to Be Young? as a vehicle for exploring the state of youth culture
under a non-democratic regime. The high level of frankness of this documentary
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shocked spectators across the Soviet Union, and made Is It Easy to Be Young? an
unparalleled sensation in Soviet cinema history.
This study begins a new contribution to the understanding of Latvian cinema
through an examination of Podnieks’s documentaries. My assessment of Podnieks’s
documentaries entails readings of each of his films individually, as well as the
identification and exploration of the main subjects and important themes of his
oeuvre. Whenever necessary, I provide readers with the essential Latvian cultural and
historical knowledge needed in order to access some of the meanings of Podnieks’s
documentaries. This study offers one entry point into the director’s works, and invites
further research on this filmmaker and on Latvian national cinema.
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Dedicated to my father, Vitolds V. Vitols,
who took me to my first movie
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Just as a film requires the work of a dedicated crew, this academic project has
been realized with the aid of a small army of people. First and foremost, I owe a deep
debt of gratitude to Professor J. Ronald Green for serving as my adviser and for
providing immeasurable assistance to me throughout my graduate school career. I am
also enormously thankful to Professors Lisa Florman and Judith Mayne for all of the
academic support that they have provided over the years. Without the valuable
assistance of these three individuals, this project would never exist.
Second, I wish to thank Antra Cilinska of the Juris Podnieks Studio (Riga,
Latvia) and Valda Barone of the Latvia State Archive of Audio-Visual Documents
(Riga, Latvia) for their warm help in arranging screenings for me of Podnieks’s films,
procuring copies of Podnieks’s work, and for their general enthusiasm and
encouragement. I would like to extend a special thank you to Inta Kanepaja, the
Director of the Latvia State Archive of Audio-Visual Documents, for granting me
access to the archive’s collection and to Janis Smits and Aivars Strods for patiently
screening many of Podnieks’s films for me at the Archive. Laima Mincenofa at the
Riga Film Museum (Riga, Latvia) also deserves my gratitude for her assistance in
navigating the Museum’s video and print material collections in their storage facility.
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Many thanks go to Elina Reitere, Anita Uzulniece, Agris Redovics, Abrams Kleckins,
and Yuri Tsivian for taking time from their busy schedules to discuss Latvian cinema
with me. All of these conversations vastly enriched my project.
At The Ohio State University, I am very grateful to present and former
librarians Eleanor Block and Susan Wyngaard for their assistance in the initial
research on my topic, and to Leslee Kuhn, Moni Wood, and Mary Beth Jones for
helping me navigate the bureaucratic structures at the University. Their kindness and
generosity sustained my project at crucial times. I also wish to thank the interlibrary
loan staff at the Newton Free Library in Newton, Massachusetts for their aid in
obtaining various materials on Latvian cinema.
Next, my sincerest thanks to the Fulbright Commission and the History of Art
Department and Office of International Affairs at The Ohio State University for
providing financial support for the nine months that I spent in Riga, Latvia during the
2006-2007 academic year. Thanks, as well, to the Wexner Center for the Arts for
offering me funding through a graduate associateship while completing my
coursework and conducting preliminary research for this project. I am also very
grateful to the P.E.O. Sisterhood for awarding me a Scholar Award to complete my
dissertation and degree.
Finally, words seem inadequate to express the profound gratitude I feel for all
of the love, support, and patience that I have received from my family and friends.
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They have read countless drafts, listened to numerous rants, and dried many tears.
Their constant, unwavering belief in me and in my work has sustained me through
more challenges than I care to remember. They have been the air in my lungs, and it
is because of them that I have been able to follow my dreams. Paldies!!!!
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VITA
August 19, 1976 ……………………..Born – Newton, Massachusetts
1998 ………………………………….B.A., Italian Culture, Wellesley College.
2000…………………………………..M.A., Cinema Studies, New York University
2001 - 2004………………………….. Instructor, Newton Community Education
2004 - 2006…………………………...Graduate Associate,
Wexner Center for the Arts
2008 - present…………………………Adjunct Faculty, Emerson College
PUBLICATIONS
Research Publication
1. Maruta Z. Vitols, “Vizualizejot emocijas: Jura Podnieka
ekspresionistiska stila sakums.” Jauna Gaita. Vol. LII, No. 4, Issue 251,
December 2007: 36-38.
2. Maruta Z. Vitols, “In The Face of Change: Latvian-American
Pilgrimages in the Post-Soviet Era.” In 2005 Edward F. Hayes Graduate
Research Forum Proceedings, Vol. 5, 2005. Ed. Catherine J. Baack.
Columbus: Council of Graduate Students at The Ohio State University, 2005,
283-294.
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: History of Art
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………….. iv
Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………..v
Vita…………………………………………………………………………………. viii
Chapters:
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………… 1
Juris Podnieks……………………………………………………………… 30
Podnieks’s Themes and Their Contexts……………………………………. 41
Methodology……………………………………………………………….. 44
2. The Early Films……………………………………………………………..51
Film Magazine Issues (kinozurnali)……………………………………….. 59
Brali Kokari [The Brothers Kokari]……………………………………….. 80
Puikas, zirgos! [Boys, on Horses!]………………………………………… 84
Baltais Ave Sol [White Ave Sol]…………………………………………... 90
Strelnieku zvaigznajs [The Constellation of the Riflemen]………………… 93
Komandieris [The Commander]…………………………………………… 112
Vel Sizifs akmeni [Sisyphus Rolls His Stone]………………………….…… 120
3. The Mature Period…………………………………………………………. 137
Vai viegli but jaunam? [Is It Easy to Be Young?, 1986]…………………… 143
Mes? [Hello, Do You Hear Us? in the U.K.,
Soviets in the U.S., 1989]…………………………………………………... 161
Krustcels [Homeland in the U.K.,
A Baltic Requiem in the U.S., 1990]…………………………………….…. 172
Pecvards [Postscript, 1991]……………………………………………….. 190
Imperijas gals [End of the Empire, 1991]…………………………………. 204
Klusuma stunda [Moment of Silence (In Memoriam), 1992]………….…… 219
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