Immediately following the awards ceremony of the 6th International Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest/Riga, a unique concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Herz Frank, the founder of Latvian poetic documentary cinema, will take place on March 7 at 18:00 at the Splendid Palace cinema. Tickets are now available at the Splendid Palace box office.
This year is marked by the legacy of Latvian documentary filmmaker Herz Frank, author of the film “Ten Minutes Older.” For Artdocfest/Riga, this anniversary carries particular significance, as one of the festival’s awards — the main prize of the Baltic Focus competition — bears Herz Frank’s name.
For this special occasion, a collage composed of fragments from Herz Frank’s films will be created. The concept is built around the continuity of the human life journey — from birth to death and spiritual rebirth — fully reflecting Frank’s distinctive philosophy, which he expressed throughout his life in his metaphorical cinematic works.
World-renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, together with musicians of the chamber orchestra “Kremerata Baltica” in a specially assembled formation and pianist Andrejs Osokins, will perform carefully selected musical pieces accompanying the visual narrative of the cinematic world of the outstanding thinker and our compatriot Herz Frank.
“Herz Frank’s name holds particular importance for the Artdocfest/Riga festival — within the Baltic Focus competition we will present the main ‘HERCS’ award for the sixth time, and therefore his centenary year is not merely a commemorative moment for us, but a living artistic encounter. The idea of uniting two geniuses — Herz Frank in the language of cinema and Gidon Kremer in music — was fundamentally important for the festival. Festival president Vitaly Mansky, a colleague and like-minded collaborator of Herz Frank, has created a carefully curated collage of film excerpts, while Gidon Kremer gives these images musical breath, which in this special performance will be brought to life together with the musicians of ‘Kremerata Baltica’ and Andrejs Osokins.”
— Vaiva Bauze, Producer of IDFF Artdocfest/Riga and Curator of the Baltic Focus Competition