Tale Kalna is nothing short of a Latvian legend. Shortly after
she was born in 1947 her father was imprisoned, tortured, and
sent to Siberia simply because he owned a farm. Like most other
Latvians of her generation, it became a dream to once again own
land. For this dream to become reality, Tale endured some historical
political moments: the USSR occupation, Latvia’s hard-fought independence,
the fall of the red army, and eventually the joining of the EU.
Throughout these tumultuous decades she managed to raise two beautiful
daughters, work as a propaganda specialist, bring opera to the
countryside, and advocate for better rural transit. Tale Kalna’s
thoughts have never been limited by the borders of her own little
farm.
Her tale is told through the eyes of her eldest daughter, director
Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen, who began filming ‘mama’ during glasnost
and perestroika. Ilze affectionately chronicles over sixty years
of Latvian history through the labours and accomplishments of
her mother. With candid narration we learn that in ‘1985 something
unexpected happens. The Soviet Union gets a leader who walks among
the people. Mikhail Gorbachev thinks like mama. The country needs
agricultural reform.’ This was a golden time for Tale, a passionate
and patriotic woman who rented, and eventually owned, one of the
first independent farms in the Republic of Latvia. As her daughter
lovingly notes, ‘a little voice can make a difference and if nobody
else speaks out, you will.’
Director’s Biography
Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen moved from Latvia to Norway in 1991. She
studied TV directing at Lillehammer University College. She works
as a director focusing on author driven documentaries. Her debut
film, The Class Photography, found an international audience,
and her most recent film My Mothers Farm, was selected
for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2008.
PRECEDED BY Mama, L’Chaim! Canadian
Premiere Elkan Spiller, Germany, 2008, 5 minutes
Sixty-two-year-old Chaim Lubelski lives with his ninety-five-year-old
mother, a concentration camp survivor. Chaim’s mother was born
in Poland and survived the camps, though her parents and first
husband all perished. Knowing what his parents had endured, Chaim
made it his mission in life to care for them as they got older
and now attends to his mother twenty-four hours a day. These lively
and humorous characters share both the light-hearted antics of
daily life and the tears and memories of the Holocaust. A touching
and surprisingly joyful insight into the lives of these astonishing
survivors.
