Out of Competition
North American Premiere

THE FOLLOWERS
SEKOTAJI



Country of production: Latvia, Russia
Year: 2003
Language: Russian
Mins: 66

Director: Andis Miziss
Script: Elvita Ruka, Andis Miziss Cinematography: Agris Birzulis, Andris Prieditis, Maris Maskalans
Editing: Gunta Ikere
Sound: Normunds Deinats
Producer: Elvita Ruka
Production company: Vides Filmu Studija
Source: Elvita Ruka
VFS
Pils 17
Riga LV1050
LATVIA
Phone: +371 750 3588
Fax: +371 7503589
elvita_vfs@hotmail.com
www.vfs.lv

The Lord has returned to Earth, and is establishing the New Jerusalem - among Latvians in Siberia.

The followers have burned all bridges to their former lives. They now follow Visarion, who had served in the Soviet police but in 1991 came out as the new Jesus. He has led a group from Latvia to "the promised land" in the middle of the Siberian taiga. There they are building the Sun City, which will be the cradle of a new civilization after the coming apocalypse.

Strongly reminiscent of the early Mormon Church, this new community practices an apocalyptic, self-sufficient communalism. Under the supervision of their spiritual teacher, the followers seek total spiritual and physical transformation, even experimenting with non-traditional family models.

Why would people with established value systems, material security, and professional careers, abandon everything?

Andis Miziss was born in Bauska, Latvia, in 1970. He studied in the Lidija Stiebra Riga Theatre School, and in the Department of Cinematography in the Latvian Academy of Culture. He has directed commissioned industrial films as well as shorts, documentaries, and features.

filmography as director
(selected)
THE FOLLOWERS (2003)
THINKING OF GRASS (2002)
ROOF ON THE MOONWAY (2001)
EXPEDITION UNDER WATER AND TIME (2000)
ELZA & ARTURS (1998)
KLEPTOMANIA (1997)

Sunday 11-Apr-2004 1:00 PM Gallery Theatre
Screening with THE OPINIONATOR