‘Dawn – Laila Pakalnina’

The film is based on the story of Pavel Morozov, a young pioneer of the Soviet regime who was assassinated after giving his parents over to the authorities. On the basis of this tale, which was probably invented, Morozov became a martyr for the Soviet regime and an example of loyalty. In Pakalnina’s film, Morozov becomes Janis, a little boy who sees his father as an enemy of the agricultural cooperative, Dawn. When Janis denounces his father, the father wants his revenge…

Laila Pakalnina
Director, scriptwriter and producer, Laila Pakalnina is one of the best-known Latvian filmmakers on the international scene. She has directed 5 feature-films, 26 documentaries and 5 shorts and has won numerous awards at international film festivals. The Latvian film director has twice been nominated for a European Film Academy Award – for the documentary Dreamland (2004), and for the short Fire (2008).