An estranged, numb river of memories, flowing in parallel to the history of Latvia in the 1930s and 1940s. Painter Ansis lives in a small town where life is dictated by the ruling power – the young man rewrites street names but hopes to become an artist. As regimes change, Ansis falls for a Jewish girl named Zisla and a Latvian girl named Naiga. Caught between three powers and two women, he realizes – there can only be one choice.

This feature by director Kairišs, who works in film, theatre and opera, is based on a novel by exiled writer Gunars Janovskis (1916–2000), an allegorical depiction of the town of Jēkabpils. The historical melodrama, strong in expression and form, focuses on the cultural heritage of the Latgale region, intertwining it with the circles of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Kairišs, drawn to grand dramatic ideas, has created a timeless piece about people caught in the shifting of powers and the twilight of desires. The film has won four Lielais Kristaps national film awards and received a total of 15 nominations.