Laila Pakalnina:
"It is very possible, that my interest in the extraordinary and even abnormal qualities of borders is tied to the fact that I grew up in the U.S.S.R., when my country Latvia was occupied. In school, we all were required to learn a poem, from which I still remember at least one line (probably all Soviet-era children remember this). The line is as follows: “I go across borders with my head held high.” Yet, we didn’t go anywhere - we didn’t walk, drive, or fly. Borders were our prison. It is not hard to imagine what would have happened to a person with his “head held high” who attempted to cross even the border into socialist Poland - the Soviet Union’s border.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this, that today, when skiing in the Alps, I particularly enjoy crossing the symbolic boundary between Italy and Switzerland. How simple and normal! And, perhaps it is precisely because of this that, the day after Latvia joined the Schengen zone on December 21, 2007 (which meant that European Union citizens could cross into any member country without showing their passports), my family and I drove to the Latvia-Estonia border to enjoy what it felt like to drive across a border without stopping. I remember how people were taking photographs on the border that day. If you think about it, what was there to photograph? Yet, apparently there was something to photograph, something completely fresh and new - an almost tangible freedom and normalcy.
I thought about this and about much more within the context of the collection Border Visions: Identity and Diaspora in Film."
Perhaps it is precisely because of this, that today, when skiing in the Alps, I particularly enjoy crossing the symbolic boundary between Italy and Switzerland. How simple and normal! And, perhaps it is precisely because of this that, the day after Latvia joined the Schengen zone on December 21, 2007 (which meant that European Union citizens could cross into any member country without showing their passports), my family and I drove to the Latvia-Estonia border to enjoy what it felt like to drive across a border without stopping. I remember how people were taking photographs on the border that day. If you think about it, what was there to photograph? Yet, apparently there was something to photograph, something completely fresh and new - an almost tangible freedom and normalcy.
I thought about this and about much more within the context of the collection Border Visions: Identity and Diaspora in Film."
I see this volume as urging people to recognize borders - the conscious boundaries, but also the borders that we (including myself) haven’t even considered yet. Moreover, it encourages us to see these borders by watching films.
Translation: Maruta Z. Vitols
Photo: Director Laila Pakalniņa (Courtesy of the author)
Laila Pakalnina, born 1962 in Liepaja, Latvia.1986 graduated from the Moscow University, Department of TV Journalism. 1991 graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction.
Director and scriptwriter of 21 documentaries, 5 shorts, 4 fiction features. So she has 30 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 1 dog, 1 bicycle. And many ideas for new films.
Director and scriptwriter of 21 documentaries, 5 shorts, 4 fiction features. So she has 30 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 1 dog, 1 bicycle. And many ideas for new films.