Dita Rietuma about “Straume” arriving at Cannes: This shows something very bright
The director Gints Zilbalodis himself received the indication about such a turn of events already a week ago, exactly on his 30th birthday, but he was asked to keep quiet. And the information still seems unbelievable, the significance of what happened will be understood only when together with the film’s producer Matīs Kažu, they will take steps on the famous Cannes red carpet in the light of the spotlight.
“We are very happy that we were selected in this particular section, it is considered one of the most prestigious,” emphasizes Zilbalodis. “Animation is very rarely accepted in this competition. Statistically, it was very unlikely: animation, which is a great rarity at Cannes, films from the Baltics are a rarity at Cannes, it was definitely not guaranteed that we would get there.”
Although well-known in the field of cinema in Latvia, Matīss Kaža and Gints Zilbalodis will be so close to the elite of world cinema for the first time.
Five years ago, Zilbalož’s first full-length animated film “Away” was already screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s film market, and immediately after that it was included in the important Annecy Animation Festival’s feature-length competition “Contrechamp”, which runs parallel to the main show. Zilbalodis, a graduate of Janis Rozentāls Art High School, created the story about a boy who gets to know the world completely alone for three and a half years at his parents’ house in Bergis – both animation, direction, and even music. For the film “Straume”, which he started after that, however, a larger team was gathered, the plot of the film partly embodies the director’s own struggle, trying to fit into society from loneliness and isolation, he admits:
“This cat is forced to adapt and change his habits after his house is washed away in a huge flood, he ends up in a small boat with other animals that he initially cannot get along with. During the journey, the cat overcomes his fear of water and his fear of others.”
The film’s producer, Matīss Kaža, emphasizes that the story is not simply about a cat. It explores the contrast between individual and collective responsibility and action. There are many coded references to the world and time we live in, so the film can travel freely across borders. Kaža adds that the film probably went to Cannes not only because of its topicality and originality, but also because of innovative technologies.
“The film is made in a very special language – without dialogues. In animated animal films, animals usually behave like people – they walk on two legs, talk. In this film, animals behave like animals.
I have never seen such a movie. And also the 3D technologies that have been used are extremely innovative and new.”
Kaža does not spare compliments: Gints Zilbalodis, in his opinion, is really a phenomenon not only in Latvian cinema, but in the world. The producer’s e-mail is already filled with invitations to bring “Straumi” to many festivals, but to arrive at the most prominent of them – Cannes – where you have to compete fiercely with cinema superpowers, is a special success for Latvia as well – and this time it can be said without local exaggeration. the head of the National Cinema Center, Dita Rietuma, also confirms: “The presence of animated films in Cannes is an extraordinary case, an exception that shows something very vivid. In the early 2000s, the film “Shrek” was shown at the Cannes Festival, yes, it is a Hollywood animation, but it was a special case.
It is truly an exception that shows extraordinary artistic success and strong professionalism.”
French and Belgian animators helped to complete the film within the required deadlines, sound mixing was also done in Belgium. The author of the music is the Latvian composer Rihards Zaļupe. The film is scheduled to be shown in Latvia in autumn. But the Cannes jury, which will evaluate it before that, will be led by the director Xavier Dolan, who is called a prodigy of Canadian cinema.
