At the Latvian Academy of Culture, Riga, Miera street 58a (main entrance, 2nd floor). Admission is free!
The exhibition catalogue is available here: The Year of Juris Podnieks!
Marking the 75th birthday of film director Juris Podnieks (1950–1992), the exhibition “PODNIEKS SPACE-TIME” has been created. It offers viewers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of Juris Podnieks, to feel, observe and reflect together with the director, to understand Podnieks’ time and events, and to get to know his like-minded friends and colleagues.
The exhibition was created within the framework of the SCCF target program Culturally Significant Events as part of the project The Year of Juris Podnieks. The project is coordinated by the Latvian Film Museum of the Latvian Academy of Culture in collaboration with the Juris Podnieks Studio. The exhibition is supported by the SCCF, Riga City Council, the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, RIGA IFF and the Latvian furniture brand Nordi.
The author and curator of the exhibition is Anna Viduleja, the artist is Kristaps Epners, the 360° projection was made by Viktors Keino, the compilation and digitalization of materials was done by Sandra Alksne, the sound director is Ernests Ansons, and the producer is Antra Cilinska-Dombrovska.
In the summer of 2023, several boxes were found in the attic of Juris Podnieks’ relatives’ house containing Juris Podnieks’ photo negatives and slides, photographs, film reels, cassettes, and other materials. Digitizing these materials has yielded fantastic evidence of Juris Podnieks’ era, which, as interpreted by director Anna Viduleja and artist Kristaps Epners, can be seen by exhibition visitors as a grandiose moving panorama. The exhibition also features interviews with Juris Podnieks’ colleagues, recorded at various times.
Juris Podnieks began his professional career as a cameraman at the Riga Film Studio, shooting newsreels and documentary films. While working on Herc Franks’ film Forbidden Zone (1975), Podnieks obtained a cinematographers’ diploma from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. Podnieks made his debut as a director with the thematic newsreel The Cradle (1977). Since the early 1980s, every film shot by Podnieks has become a significant artistic and social event. The film Is It Easy to Be Young? (1986) was seen by a record number of viewers – 43 million! Its influence can be measured not only in the context of Latvian cinema, but throughout the entire Soviet system, becoming one of the driving forces towards the end of the empire. It was Podnieks, together with his colleagues and like-minded people, who captured this in the films Soviets/Hello, do you hear us? (1989) and Homeland (1990), seeking new imagery for the era and opportunities for expression for people who were striving for freedom and independence.
