Is It Easy to Be Young?
Vai viegli būt jaunam?
(Is It Easy to Be Young?)
is a Soviet-era Latvian documentary film directed by Juris Podnieks.
It was filmed in 1986 with dialog in both Latvian and Russian, and is considered to be among the most controversial movies of its era.
It was one of the five winners of the 1987 International Documentary Association awards.
The movie speaks about young people who perished as a result of growing up in Soviet society—their conflicts with parents and society, the patronizing attitudes of their teachers and the authorities, the fear that there is no meaning to their lives.
Among the young people portrayed are high-schoolers looking for their place in life, a young mother worried about the future of her daughter after the Chernobyl catastrophe, a young man follower of the Hare Krishna movement (an 'unusual' religion that was discouraged even more than 'usual' ones by the Soviet government), as well young adults returning from compulsory military service in the Soviet–Afghan War and having become ones of 'the lost generation'.
The film's opening scene documents a concert by the banned Latvian rock band, Pērkons.
The movie had a major impact in the Soviet Union.
It was seen by at least 28 million people during its first year.
In all, 85 countries bought the rights to show the movie.
For a Latvian film, this was an incredible number.
In 1986 the film received Latvian Film Prize for the best documentary.
Its international debut was at the 1987 Kraków Film Festival, where it received the FIPRESCI Award.
It was also screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
The film was re-released in 2007 by Jura Podnieka Studija; the new edition includes oral history interviews with Podnieks's colleagues.
After Latvia regained independence, Antra Cilinska filmed two sequels ("Is It Easy to Be?" in 1998, and "Is it Easy?" in 2010), featuring interviews with people filmed by Podnieks.
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Juris Podnieks
Juris Podnieks (December 5, 1950, Riga – June 23, 1992, Kuldīga District) was a Latvian film director and producer.
He graduated from the Soviet VGIK film school in 1975 after which he started working at the Riga Film Studio.
He became a director in 1979.
Podnieks' first film "Cradle" won an award at the Dok Leipzig festival.
In 1981, his film "The Brothers Kokar" took the first prize at the Kiev Youth Festival.
In the same year, his film "Constellation of Riflemen" won honours in the 17th
All State Festival in Leningrad and the Latvian Komsomol prize.
This film gave Podnieks wide recognition within the Soviet Union.
Podnieks gained international recognition with his movie "
'Is It Easy to Be Young?".
The film with dialogue in both Latvian and Russian was an exploration of Soviet youth, in which Podnieks talked to youngsters later convicted for criminal actions.
The movie broke box-office records in the Soviet Union.
As the Soviet Union collapsed, Podnieks cooperated with British television to give a first-hand insight on the events in the Soviet Union.
Over three years, Podnieks filmed a five-part documentary titled "Hello, do you hear us?".
It showed civil unrest in Uzbekistan, survivors of the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia, striking workers in Yaroslavl and former residents returning to Chernobyl.
The first film in the series, "Red Hot", was awarded the Prix Italia and the Peabody Award.
Later, Podnieks filmed movies that focused on the rise of national identity in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
His "Homeland" was an account of folk festivals in these countries when national songs which had been banned by the Soviet regime for 50 years, were sung by massed choirs.
While filming a follow-up in January 1991, Podnieks and his crew came under sniper fire during the attempted coup by Soviet forces in Riga.
Podnieks was beaten up, his cameraman and long-time friend Andris Slapiņš was killed and Gvido Zvaigzne, another collaborator and friend of Podnieks, died of injuries.
This was captured on video and shown as an addition to "Homeland" and later as an introduction for the revised version of this film.
Four of his films received the Lielais Kristaps prize as the best documentary of the year.
Juris Podnieks drowned on 23 June 1992 while scuba-diving in a lake in Courland.
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Question: Where was the director of film Is It Easy To Be Young? born?
Answer: Riga