Baltic Film Series: "Modris" (2014) Film Screening

Program 

6:00-6:45pm: Reception 

6:45-6:50pm: Opening remarks by Liga Hoy, Latvian Honorary Consul in San Francisco 

6:50-7:00pm: Introduction by Marta Mannenbach 

7:00-8:30pm: Screening of the film 

Abstract 

Juris Kursietis’ Modris is a drama about the struggles of growing up, relationships, and gambling addiction. The film was the Latvian entry for the Academy Awards 2016 (Best foreign language film). 

Modris is a normal 17-year-old with a girlfriend and some good pals at school. But his addiction to gambling makes his relationship with his mother difficult, especially since she keeps on reminding him that his father is in prison - so Modris must have inherited his bad genes. 

Things come to a head in the middle of the Nordic winter when Modris pawns his mother’s electric heater so he can play the slot machines. She betrays him to the police, and as he begins his adventures in the Latvian justice system, his relationship to the outside world changes. Soon Modris becomes determined to find the father he never knew. 

Speaker

Marta Mannenbach (MA in Film and Television, the University of Nottingham, UK) is media and marketing specialist with a sweet spot for film.

*With funding from the US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Centers Grant