In the Shadow of Death

A group of fishermen find themselves in open sea when the ice they stand on breaks away from the shore. Permeated by bleak stoicism, the film pits its characters against certain death: food is running low as the ice is melting away. It is an existential drama about the psychological effects of facing the inevitable: in some, it inspires nobility and self-sacrifice, in others, selfishness and despair. It is also a commentary on the standards of manhood, casting some of Latvia’s most revered male actors at the time. The film’s homoerotic subtext has attracted renewed interest as modern researchers reappraise the oeuvre of Gunārs Piesis from the queer perspective.

The film will be presented by Jānis Ozoliņš, an assistant professor at the Art Academy of Latvia and a leading researcher at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia, whose current research focuses on queer representation and masculinities in contemporary Latvian art and the films of Gunārs Piesis.