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Velta

drama, 15 minutes, pre-production

Aldis, seventy-five, sits alone in the garden during his birthday celebration at a Latvian country house. He's hiding his dementia and failing memory from everyone. A note in his pocket reminds him where he is. His six-year-old granddaughter finds him, asks about his late wife—a grandmother she never met. Aldis cannot answer. The memory of his wife escapes him. He snaps at the child, but in reality he's angry at himself.

Later, watching the girl dance to an old song, Aldis slips into the past. The same room, thirty years earlier. Now it’s his daughter dancing in the same spot to the same song. And his wife is in the garden, alive, only with her back to him. Desperate to see her face once more, Aldis begins chasing her across fragments of his failing memory, while his family watches him with growing worry.

Director’s statement

Many films about dementia focus on the dark, depressing side of this cruel disease. And while the short film format imposes certain limitations on a story we can tell in a limited time, for me it is crucial that our film leaves the viewer with hope and warmth in the end. I want to show that life goes on no matter what. Our film has very minimal dialogue, which is reflected in the minimalistic script. This is intentional. “Velta” is an emotional journey of our protagonist through his fragmented and fragile memory that leaves very little space for literal text. I want to capture on screen the feeling of trying to grasp something in your past but not quite reaching it.

Working in close collaboration with cinematographer Ivo Skanstiņš, we plan to tell a highly visual story, full of symbolism, poetic metaphors and memory triggers that transport Aldis from one memory to another in a seamless way. Visual effects will be an important part of putting together this visual journey and connecting the disjointed memory fragments into seamless shots. There are very few visual effect artists in Latvia who are more experienced that Dmitrijs Maslakovs, and we are glad to have him in our creative team from the beginning. Together we will develop a detailed storyboard and shot list, that would ensure precise and effective filming.

Already at the development stage we have engaged with the renowned artist Stīna Skulme, who has created the key concept art for the film, which is included in this document. For her master’s thesis in the Latvian Academy of Art Stīna works on a visual representation of memory fragmentation, and we have found a perfect synthesis between our film and her works that inspire us and set the tone.

Information

Cast

  • Pēteris Krilovs

Crew

  • Writer and director: Dan Silov
  • Producer: Nadīna Anna Larionova
  • Cinematographer: Ivo Skanstiņš
  • Production designer: Inuta Graudiņa
  • Visual effects supervisor: Dmitri Maslakov

Details

  • Planned release: 2027
  • Runtime: 15 minutes
  • Language: Latvian

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