Papa Gena – Short Film by Laila Pakalniņa

On Sunday, 23 February 2025 at 15:00, we will be showing the short film ‘Papa Gena’ at the Schleswig-Holstein Künstlerhaus otte1 before the Provinzlärm closing concert, which will take place afterwards in St. Nicolaikirche.

Laila Pakalniņa was born in Liepaja, Latvia, in 1962. In 1986, she completed a degree in television journalism at the University of Moscow. She then studied film directing at the Moscow Film Academy VGIK until 1991. Laila Pakalniņa began making films in a style characterised by long, contemplative and precisely composed scenes (her short films Veļa / The Linen (1991), Prāmis / The Ferry (1994) and Pasts / The Mail (1995) were shown at the Cannes Film Festival and awarded the FIPRESCI International Film Critics‘ and Film Journalists’ Association Prize).

In 2001, she made the ten-minute short film ‘Papa Gena’ as Latvia’s contribution to the Venice Biennale. The film was shown at the NEMO Gallery as part of Provinzlärm-Festival for New Music 2009 with a focus on Latvia.

The city of Riga is a hectic place, and you need a reason to ask people to stop for a moment and stand in front of the film camera. The occasion is music by Mozart (a few bars from ‘The Magic Flute’). A man, a girl, a child, a few women and a couple of young people put on their headphones and listen.