The filmmakers who turned the world's attention to the Baltics

  • 2007-01-17
  • Interview by Elizabeth Celms
On Jan. 20, 1991, Soviet troops attacked Latvia's Interior Ministry in Riga. A week earlier, 13 people were killed in Lithuania trying to prevent troops from invading the Vilnius TV tower. Once word got out that the Interior Ministry was under attack, a team of Latvian filmmakers, led by renowned director Juris Podnieks, rushed to the scene. Within minutes, troops opened fire at the cameramen. Andris Slapins, a well-known documentary filmmaker, was hit first. As he lay dying on the ground, he pleaded for Podnieks to record him. The chilling footage was later added to Podnieks' documentary ...
 
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