Virtual Screening: November 4-13

ROCKS IN MY POCKETS (Akmeņi manās kabatās)
Signe Baumane, USA/Latvia, 2014
88 minutes, In Latvian with English subtitles

In Latvia in the 1920s, Anna falls in love with an adventurous entrepreneur 30 years her senior. But with marriage comes jealousy, and the entrepreneur hides Anna away in the forest where she bears him eight children. Years later, Signe, a young artist, asks her father how her grandmother died… This animated feature film is a highly personal statement about the director’s struggle with depression. Set against the backdrop of her grandmother’s life, the first part touches on the difficult living conditions in Latvia during the Soviet and German occupations in order to focus on those members of the family suffering from the inherited illness. Without ever becoming insincere, the filmmaker approaches the gloomy topic with color and humor.

Festival History
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Award of Ecumenical Jury, Special Mention, FIPRESCI Prize
Latvian National Film Festival – Best Animated Feature Film, Best Screenplay
Trieste Film Festial – SkyArte Award
Athens International Film Festival
San Sebastian International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Busan International Film Festival
London International Animation Festival
Tirana International Film Festival
Leeds International Film Festival
Gijon International Film Festival
International Film Festival of India (Goa)
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Brussels International Animation Film Festival

Tags: Latvia, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Animation