Harijs Beķeris

World War II and Latvians – the second most affected nation in this slaughter of superpowers. However, the number of people drafted into the war and killed is only a statistic, behind which lies the tragedy of each individual and an entire nation. Latvians, ruled, deceived, and coerced by foreign powers, had to fight under foreign flags on both sides of the front. Brother against brother, father against son... It was not a Latvian war, because Latvians had nothing to gain from it. It was not even a war between good and evil, it was a war between red and brown.

For the post-war generation in Latvia, the dream of the “good old days” became a significant part of the process of regaining independence. The dream of restoring the countryside to the way it was during the first independence is only now seen by most as naïve and unreal. Six episodes that reflect the historical development in the nation parallel to the fate of the director’s mother are used to explore the effects of political order on everyday lives. Though she is now leaving the countryside, the process of moving her life provides a visual stimulus for memories.