During Latvia’s Independence Day week, Zuzeum invites you to a special screening of Pēteris Krilovs’ documentary film The Red Barn.
📅 Thursday, 19 November, at 7 p.m., Zuzeum Living Room
🎟️ Film in Latvian and English
🗣️ Ticket price: EUR 5. Limited seating available.
Pēteris Krilovs’ documentary The Red Barn intertwines the life story of acclaimed painter and playwright Raimonds Staprāns (1926–2026) with the dramatic turning points of Latvia’s 20th-century history. Having fled Latvia as a refugee in 1944, Staprāns spent most of his life in San Francisco. While his paintings explored the relationships between colour, light and form, his plays repeatedly returned to defining moments in Latvian history, challenging established narratives and raising uncomfortable questions about power, democracy and personal responsibility.
The film takes its title from one of Staprāns’ paintings, depicting a red barn that the filmmakers reconstructed on the coast of Sārnate and dismantled after filming. This temporary structure becomes the film’s central metaphor and an unconventional stage where historical figures from different eras encounter characters from Staprāns’ plays. The film weaves together documentary footage from San Francisco, conversations with the artist and his wife Ilona, family archive materials and staged historical scenes. Rather than offering a definitive interpretation of the past, Krilovs draws on Staprāns’ independent perspective to invite audiences to reconsider historical events and reflect on their own relationship with history.
Produced by VFS Films in collaboration with the Mākslai vajag telpu Foundation, the documentary forms part of Staprāns 100, a programme initiated by the foundation to mark the centenary of Raimonds Staprāns’ birth. Spanning several years, the programme has brought together painting, theatre, cinema, literature and public discussions.
Creative Team
Director: Pēteris Krilovs
Screenwriters: Pēteris Krilovs, Ieva Struka
Cinematographer: Valdis Celmiņš
Production and Costume Designer: Kristīne Abika
Editor: Paula Ločmele
Set Designers: Dāvis Līcītis, Mārtiņš Blanks, Krists Zankovskis
Sound Designer: Pēteris Pāss
Original Music: Aleksandrs Tomass Matjussons
Poster Designer: Kristaps Staprāns-Mednis
Producer: Uldis Cekulis
Associate Producers: Katrīna Jaunupe, Māris Medinis
Executive Producer: Agne Skane
Featuring: Raimonds Staprāns, Ilona Staprāne, Pēteris Krilovs, Gints Apals, Oto Brantevics.
Cast: Imants Strads, Arturs Krūzkops, Pēteris Gaudiņš, Anda Albuže, Kaspars Zvīgulis, Jēkabs Reinis, Kaspars Znotiņš, Toms Harjo and others.
*By attending the event, you agree to photo and video documentation and the use of these materials for publicity purposes. You have the right to object to being photographed or filmed, or to your child being photographed or filmed, by informing the photographer or videographer during the event.