Life Interrupted tells the story of Alicija (33), a Polish-born liberal free-thinker, living in Latvia, who joins the Awakening movement in the late 80s and 90s. Awakening (Atmoda) was a movement advocating for the restoration of Latvia's independence from the Soviet Union. Alicija's social activism soon intertwines with her personal life, as she learns of her husband's potential involvement with the KGB.
The film is produced by Latvia’s TASSE Film and coproduced by Lithuania's M-Films, with a budget slightly above 1 m EUR, representatives of TASSE Film told FNE. The National Film Centre of Latvia, the State Cultural Capital Foundation of Latvia, the Lithuanian Film Centre and Creative Europe MEDIA are supporting.
The project received funding from the Latvian National Film Centre in the spring of 2021 at a memorable session where three out of four feature films getting production grants were directed by women. Lotus directed by Signe Birkova and produced by Studio Locomotive in coproduction with Lithuania’s Studio Uljana Kim, and Black Velvet directed by Liene Linde and produced by Ego Media in coproduction with Lithuania’s Tremora, are also set to be released in the autumn of 2023.
Ilze Kunga-Melgaile previously wrote and directed five short films, often working in an auteur cinema style, at times working also as the editor of her work. Life Interrupted is her first feature film.
Production Information:
Producer:
TASSE Film (Latvia)
Aija Bērziņa: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
M-Films (Lithuania)
Credits:
Director: Ilze Kunga-Melgaile
DoP: Maxim Efros
Production designer: Jurģis Krāsons
Costumes: Līga Krāsone
Make-up: Ilze Trumpe
Main cast: Ērika Eglija- Grāvele, Gints Grāvelis, Darius Meškauskas, Ilze Ķuzule- Skrastiņa
