UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DOCUMENTARY FILM-MAKING IN THE BALTIC COUNTRIES (1960–2010) MASTER’S THESIS MA in Humanities June 2013 Author : Renāte Bula E-mail: [email protected] Scientific advisor: Professor Irina Novikova RIGA 2013 INTRODUCTION Documentary film in the Baltic States has always been highly developed along with the fiction film, and even more dominant in the means of numbers produced and in some cases also regarding its impact on the society. The tradition of documentary filmmaking in the region has strong roots particularly established during the Soviet period, when generation of new filmmakers brought new senses to the documentary film in each country and established themselves in the industry. Over time, with the changing political situation, also documentary industry has experienced substantial turning points, which changed the course of documentary development. While looking from broader perspective, it can also be seen that documentaries from the region commonly are much more recognized in international film festivals and forums than fiction films. Documentary filmmaking in the Baltic States has developed gradually over time already since the beginning of 20th century, yet there can be identified three main turning points, when substantial changes in the filmmaking took place – 1960s, late 1980s and the period since the year 2000. The first turning point can be identified at the time when filmmakers refused to film only chronicles and newsreels. Especially in the Soviet period documentary filmmakers experienced harsh times as the film in all Baltic States was closely linked to the needs of the government in the production of newsreels and propaganda materials. However, despite this fact, in the 1960s, new generation of filmmakers appeared with different view on how documentary films should look like. Therefore, this is regarded as the first turning point of the development of local documentary filmmaking. Since then documentary film developed with slightly different characteristics in each country, but all with numerous bright personalities. The second turning point can be tied with the political changes in the Baltic region starting from the mid-1980s – the period of perestroika and glasnost, awakening and the subsequent restoration of independence. This period was full many significant events, which determined the future of the Baltic States and opened up new possibilities of documentary filmmaking, as well as the regained independence brought changes both positive and negative. The ideological boundaries were gone, and the possibility to get acquainted with the fellow documentaries from the Western Europe appeared. However, as the Soviet system collapsed, so did the management of different spheres and their funding. The third turning point is the years since the new millennium when again new generation of filmmakers appeared – more daring and experimenting one. The contemporary documentary filmmaking industry is Documentary Film-making in the Baltic States 2 extremely diverse and exposed to many influences, which all are present in Baltic filmmaker’s work. Due to the aforesaid issues, the aim of the thesis was to identify and compare the specific character of documentary filmmaking in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In order to achieve the aim the following objectives had been formulated: 1. To explore the concept and characteristics of documentary film. 2. To make an overview of the main historical turning points of documentary film in general. 3. To explore the documentary film industry in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in particular time periods – 1960-70s, 1980-90s, and the new millennium. 4. To explore the main issues that were important in particular time periods in documentary film. 5. To compare the documentary filmmaking in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in particular time periods, with the main focus on the themes and characteristics. Thesis was divided into four parts and based on mixed methods of research. The first part was the descriptive research of the documentary film theory and modes of filmmaking, as well as descriptive analysis of the historical development of documentary film. The second, third and fourth part were the analysis of documentary filmmaking in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and subsequent comparative film analysis of the themes and issues covered in the periods of 1960-70s, late 1980s up to beginning of 1990s and the present-day period in each Baltic State. In the particular summary of the thesis the results of comparative analysis are given, as well as overall conclusions are made. This research is particularly topical due to the fact that comprehensive comparative analysis of the documentary filmmaking in the Baltic States has not yet been made. There are many articles and research papers made on Latvian documentary films, however very few papers in English on the documentary filmmaking in Estonia and Lithuania have been made. Therefore a comprehensive analysis of the documentary filmmaking in the Baltic States since 1960s up to now could be very useful for both learning about the diversity of Baltic documentary film industries, as well as for further in-depth researches in particular theme. Documentary Film-making in the Baltic States 3 1. DOCUMENTARY FILM-MAKING IN BALTIC STATES – 1960-70s As Pērkone writes, “the characteristic feature of small countries is that the cultural processes are closely affiliated with the political and economical processes, especially referring to such expensive and time-consuming branch of art as film” (Pērkone et al., 2012: 3). This was the case in the Baltic States, where until 1960s documentary film was stagnating basically serving for the governmental needs. The main employment of documentalists was the production of newsreels and other periodical documentary film series, however, it was quite restrictive because of the ideological limitations. In 1960s the situation changed – documentary film in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania started to thrive due to the arrival of new generation of filmmakers into the national film industries, mostly educated in Moscow’s State Cinema Institute (Vitols, 2012: 328). The 1960s also came with a new phase in the political situation in Soviet Union – the so-called “Khrushchev Thaw”, which brought high hopes of the upswing of social and cultural life (Uzulniece, 1997: 2), which, at least in the documentary film industry, fulfilled. Another thing, noted by Pērkone, which influenced and prompted the development of documentary genre in Baltic States, was that only the feature- length documentaries had to be confirmed by Moscow, the rest was the inner issue of Republics. Also the audience of these films was noticeably smaller, and therefore the admissible freedom much greater (Pērkone et al., 2012: 8). Vitols writes that “the blossoming of a new film culture in Baltic States was also due to the advent of television which fundamentally altered the role of documentaries in society. Previously, documentaries functioned much like the radio and the press, offering audiences ‘objective’ information, striving to efface any traces of a subjective authorship. The arrival of television effectively transferred this task of ‘objective’ information communication to television broadcasting, largely due to the new medium’s cost-effectiveness and rapid dissemination. This freed documentary filmmakers to portray their subjects in depth in a more complex manner” (Vitols, 2008a: 14–15). 1.1. Comparative analysis of the main tendencies in documentary film in the Baltic States in 1960-70s When comparing documentary cinema in the period of 1960–70s in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, one can find both many similarities and differences. The documentary genre in 1960s similarly in all three Baltic States revived as elsewhere in the world. However, Documentary Film-making in the Baltic States 4 referring to Kleckins, unlike the western world, where the upswing of documentary film happened mainly due to the technical developments as lightweight cameras and new sound equipment, in Baltic States the revival was owing to the new generation which came into the industry, but the technical resources did not change still for a while (Kleckins, 1993). But the thematic development that could be seen in the United States and Canada as direct cinema or in France as cinema vérité could be seen also in the Baltic States. Thus, despite the iron curtain, the notions of documentary development reached this region as well. The ground for renaissance in documentary film in Estonia was similar as in other Baltic States. It was provided by the freer atmosphere that came along with the “Thaw”, yet more significant factor was the appearance of first Estonian-speaking filmmakers with academic education from the Moscow and Leningrad theatre and film schools (Kõrver, 2012: 9). Kärk adds that “also the Estonian Television, established in 1955, must be given some significant credit for the development of the genre in Estonia as in 1960s it developed into one of the most interesting and illuminative stations in the Soviet Union” (Kärk, 2010). Particularly, the period between 1965 and 1969 in Estonia has been considered an era of a true “documentary explosion”, which had been characterized, among other things, by on-the-spot reportages and staged set-ups, using the hidden cameras and other devices of the cinema vérité style (Näripea, 2010). Also in Latvia, the new generation of filmmakers made a turning point in the documentary film industry.