ECC celebrations in Riga keep a low profile at this time of year: you will see no banners, leaflets or information on ECC venues and events. It is rather empty here, even at Christmas markets located in three main squares in Riga's Old Town.
European awards
The cultural year in Riga was concluded with the European Film Awards ceremony on Saturday 13 December. "European Oscars" provoked little enthusiasm among the residents of the city: there were no crowds of people hunting for autographs along the red carpet, and only few paparazzi were hunting for photographs. The local residents may have followed the event on TV, where they could see the Latvian Minister of Culture greeting the guests with the following words: "Europe has returned to Latvia. I doubt that our Russian minority would like to return to their former empire."
Latvia has been a member of the EU for more than ten years now. As of 1 January 2014, the country has also adopted EUR as their main currency, but still it is far less wealthy than its Scandinavian neighbours. Having said that, Latvia's European pedigree was emphasised at every opportunity as if to dispel the spectre of the former Soviet empire, now under Putin's rule. Agnieszka Holland and Wim Wenders, two leading figures of the European Film Academy, extended declarations of solidarity with people imprisoned in Moscow and with Oleg Sentsov, a film director arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts.
Latvia's European pedigree and democratic system were also emphasised by Thomas Hermanns, a German actor and the gala's host, who took the opportunity to remind the audience that he was gay. He also said that he was happy to stand on the European side of the Russian-Latvian border, since otherwise he would be put in jail.
"Ida" chosen the Best Picture
"Ida" by Paweł Pawlikowski garnered five most prestigious European Film Awards on Saturday 13 December at 27. European Film Awards Ceremony. This has been the most prominent success of the Polish cinema since 1988, when Krzysztof Kieślowski made his triumph with "A Short Film About Killing". Paweł Pawlikowski and his crew were beaming with joy. It must be added that films which garner awards in Europe are more likely to receive Academy Awards later on.
Liv Ulmann and European film stars
The EFA Gala was also attended by a number of renowned European actors and actresses. As our public space is virtually flooded with American film stars and their representations, we tend to forget about their European and just as exquisite counterparts. The Riga gala, and the Wroclaw gala in two years, serve as an opportunity to emphasise the legacy of European actors and actresses. Many of them are living legends while others have become the icons of popular culture. They share their European origins, and their acting style is different from the one preferred in the US. They are less Hollywood-like, but that does not mean they are worse. Wroclaw, just like Riga, will also play host to Europe's best actors and film directors.
Wroclaw to celebrate the cinema in 2016
Wroclaw will celebrate the European cinema legacy at the beginning of December 2016. The city will provide a unique setting: the former Feature Film Studio, which is known to have served the founders of the Polish Film School. This is where such seminal films as Wajda's "Ashes and Diamonds", Polański's "Knife in the Water", Has's "The Saragossa Manuscript" or Konwicki's "Salto" were created. After the EFA ceremony, Pawlikowski was asked if "Ida" marked the revival of the Polish school. The legendary Bergman's actress Liv Ulmann was delighted with "Ida" and she said the film offered a journey into European history and it also proved the courage of its director.
Apart from Liv Ulmann, the gala was also attended by Agnes Varda, Agnieszka Holland, Wim Wenders, Steve McQueen, Allan Starski, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Timothy Spall, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Hardy, Alexey Serebryakov, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. A number of Polish artists also turned up, including Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska (nominated in the Best Actress category for "Ida") and Andrzej Chyra, who took the stage to announce some of the winners and nominees. Ministers of culture from a number of European countries were also invited, including Josef Ostermayer (Austria), Urve Tiidus (Estonia), Dace Melbārde (Latvia), Šarūnas Birutis (Lithuania), Małgorzata Omilanowska (Poland) and Memli Krasniqi (Kosovo).
Large concert halls are nowhere to be found in Riga, which is why 1,500 guests were seated at the Latvian National Opera House and the Cinema Splendid Palace. The red carpet was in turn rolled out in marquee which was put up next to the opera building. Wroclaw should be able to avoid any logistic problems of this kind, as we can use the Centenary Hall, and the National Music Forum should also be opened by 2016. The venue will certainly be able to host 2.5 thousand people. Let us then keep our fingers crossed for the Polish cinema to repeat its success from Riga, so that we could applaud new Polish EFA winners in 2016 in Wroclaw.
Agnieszka Kołodyńska
