- Occupation
Director - Country
?, Latvia
Kairiss Viesturs
Romeo and Juilet
Emotional and stylistically outstanding documentary musical depicting the staging of Bernstein`s West Side Story with deaf youths.
The Olympic Man
The portrayal of Mārtiņš Rubenis, the Latvian luger and the Olympic medal winner – in 2006 in Turin the athlete won the first Winter Olympics medal in Latvian history. By contrast, in today’s cultural circles, he is also known as Dj Betons from Varka Kru. Like a medieval knight Lohengrin, Rubenis goes to the track to fight against the rivals, time, the world and himself.
Emotional and stylistically outstanding documentary musical depicting the staging of Bernstein`s West Side Story with deaf youths.
The Olympic Man
The portrayal of Mārtiņš Rubenis, the Latvian luger and the Olympic medal winner – in 2006 in Turin the athlete won the first Winter Olympics medal in Latvian history. By contrast, in today’s cultural circles, he is also known as Dj Betons from Varka Kru. Like a medieval knight Lohengrin, Rubenis goes to the track to fight against the rivals, time, the world and himself.
The Invisible City
Paradise in hell. This is how the life of the inhabitants of the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation could best be described. This is a story about a city that was built as a paradise, but transformed into hell; for both itself and the rest of the world. This is a city slowly turning back into paradise but in a different way than was originally intended. This film is to be shot in two places: the towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat in the Ukraine and Visaginas in Lithuania. The nuclear power plants in both countries were built in the 1970s, in deserted places, the same type of plant and both were launched at almost the same time. Everyone knows about the catastrophe and consequences of the first. Meanwhile, Visaginas became a part of independent Lithuania, and was closed after strict EU recommendations. Life in the town is falling into decay… Now a decision has been made to build a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas. It rouses a certain enthusiasm among the inhabitants of the town. The sad stories of Chernobyl and Fukushima do not frighten them; they believe that they were just accidents. The film represents three periods of time – the past, present and future. The past will be addressed in documentary chronicles about the construction of the Soviet city of happiness. The present will appear through the new-built city and the nuclear power plant in Lithuania (Visaginas). The future will be represented by a fictional time after a devastating catastrophe at the plant, when the city is in ruins, radiation penetrating everything. But people and nature continue living in these extreme circumstances (as in Chernobyl). The film develops as a story of one city, one paradise lost and found again.
Paradise in hell. This is how the life of the inhabitants of the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation could best be described. This is a story about a city that was built as a paradise, but transformed into hell; for both itself and the rest of the world. This is a city slowly turning back into paradise but in a different way than was originally intended. This film is to be shot in two places: the towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat in the Ukraine and Visaginas in Lithuania. The nuclear power plants in both countries were built in the 1970s, in deserted places, the same type of plant and both were launched at almost the same time. Everyone knows about the catastrophe and consequences of the first. Meanwhile, Visaginas became a part of independent Lithuania, and was closed after strict EU recommendations. Life in the town is falling into decay… Now a decision has been made to build a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas. It rouses a certain enthusiasm among the inhabitants of the town. The sad stories of Chernobyl and Fukushima do not frighten them; they believe that they were just accidents. The film represents three periods of time – the past, present and future. The past will be addressed in documentary chronicles about the construction of the Soviet city of happiness. The present will appear through the new-built city and the nuclear power plant in Lithuania (Visaginas). The future will be represented by a fictional time after a devastating catastrophe at the plant, when the city is in ruins, radiation penetrating everything. But people and nature continue living in these extreme circumstances (as in Chernobyl). The film develops as a story of one city, one paradise lost and found again.
Film and theatre director Viesturs Kairiss (1971) has directed 2 feature films and 7 documentaries. His documentary Romeo and Juliet (2005) received a FIPRESCI prize and was nominated by the Russian Film Academy for the Nike award. His latest film The Olympic Man was nominated as the best Latvian documentary in 2009. Kairiss is currently working on a fiction film about the deportation of Latvian people to Siberia after WW2 and staging Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Komische Oper Berlin.
2009 The Olympic Man, documentary, 80 min., 35 mm;
2006 The Dark Deer¸ feature, 90 min., 35 mm, co-production with Fischerfilm (Austria);
2004 The Monument, documentary, 26 min., coproduction with ARTE and RBB (Germany);
2004 Romeo and Juliet, documentary, 60 min;
2001 Leaving by the Way, feature, 90 min., 35 mm. Best film at Latvian National Film Festival, Competition Selection at International Karlovy Vary film festival, FIPRESCI prize at International Film Festival “Arsenals”. Best debut at 10th Raindance Film Festival;
2001 Magic Flute, short film, 10 min. for Latvian exhibition at Venice Biennale;
2000 The Wedding, feature, 30 min, 35 mm. Best film at Latvian National Film Festival, Jury Prize at IFF Molodist, Ukraine;
1998 The Train, documentary, 10 min,35 mm; Best Debut, the Prize of Latvian Ministry of Culture;
1996 The Strange Heaven, short, 10 min, 35 mm;
1995 The Cook’s Song, short, 16 min, 16 mm
Ex Oriente Film - 2012