Unique video evidence brings the legendary cinema artist Juri Podnieka to life in the film

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In March, the documentary film “Potnieks about Podniekus” was released. Time witness” (dir. Antra Cilinska, Anna Viduleja, 2024), which, using the diaries of Jura Podnieks, tells about himself and the time in which the legendary documentarian lived.

The joint work of the tandem of directors Antra Cilinska and Anna Viduleja premiered on March 1 at the international documentary film festival “ArtDocFest”, while from March 18 the film can be seen in Latvian cinemas. From May 1, the film is also available on the streaming platform LMT Viedtelevizija, and it is complemented by a selection of Jura Podnieks’s best-known films.

Juris Podnieks was a cameraman, film producer and director who documented life in Soviet Latvia, the growing dissatisfaction of the society with the existing system and its collapse. His work has left an imprint on the history of world cinema. For example, thanks to his ingenuity as a cameraman, it was possible to find technical solutions that made it possible to shoot Herz Frank’s film “Older than Ten Minutes” (1978), recognized as a cinema classic. Podnieks is also the only Latvian documentary filmmaker to whom an entry in the “Routledge” encyclopedia of documentary cinema is dedicated.

Photo: “The potter about the potter.” Time witness” publicity image, LMT Viedtelevizija

Through the personal to the national

In 2020, the co-director of the film, Antra Cilinska, had the idea to focus on the work of Jura Podnieks, giving the contemporaries and the new generation of the legendary cameraman and director an opportunity to get to know him from a different point of view. She points out: “What Juris Podnieks told 30 years ago is still modern and relevant. This fascinated me and encouraged me to work on a new documentary where the audience would have the opportunity to be with him again. Jura’s narration in the film encourages everyone to ask themselves questions and look for answers to them.”