Short Film Grand Prix Competition
North American Premiere

DREAM LAND

LEIPUTRIJA



Laila Pakalnina

Country of production: Latvia
Year: 2004
Language: Non-verbal
Mins: 35

Production company: Vides Filmu Studija, NDR/Arte
Producer: Uldis Cekulis
Script: Laila Pakalnina, Maris Maskalans
Cinematography: Maris Maskalans
Editing: Gatis Belogrudovs
Sound: Anrijs Krenbergs
Music: Shigeru Umebayashi


Source: Vides Filmu Studija
Pils iela 17,
1050 Riga, Latvia
Tel: +371 750 35 88
Fax: +371 750 35 89
e-mail: vfs@vfs.apollo.lv


There are places that we don’t want to know anything about; places that we would rather pretend don’t exist at all. One such place is a dumpsite. From the point of view of human beings, a dump is a stinking desert of trash. But it’s a desert that teams with life. The astounding profusion of insects, reptiles, birds and mammals, all intertwined in an existential life-death relationship imparts a strangely alluring dream-like quality to the dump. This non-verbal, observational documentary bears some similarity to Microcosmos. It starts with a poetic shot of a sunrise. Nature wakes up. The images of lovely birds and insects are replaced with the massive dumping of city garbage. Rats and mice are running around, the garbage rots, the swamp next to it hosts water snakes. Newborn mice are fed by their mothers, young birds gurgle in their nest, the day is passing. The rising of a huge moon brings the shadows of night. Huge garbage bulldozers make space for the new leftovers to come. Daily events are summed up – who was eaten by whom, who survived one more struggle. Life goes on.



Laila Pakalnina was born in 1962 in Liepaja, Latvia. In 1986 she graduated from the Moscow University, Department of Journalism; then took up film studies at the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Departament of Film Directing, graduating in 1991. She has made a number of short films and documentaries since 1988. She made a debut feature film “The Shoe” in 1998.

Filmography

Dream Land (2004)
The Bus (2004)
The python (2003)
Martins (2002)
Papa Gena (2001)
Wake Up (2000)
The Shoe (1998)
The Oak (1996)
The Mail (1995)
The Ferry (1994)
The Church (1993)
Anna’s Christmas (1992)
The Pilgrimage (1991)
The Linnen (1991)
The Dome (1991)
Choice (1991)
And (1998)

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