In the poetic tapestry of history and the present day, film and theatre director Krilovs blends the personal and the political. As he dramatises history and portrays the artist Raimonds Stapr\u0101ns, he asks: what’s the responsibility of an artist before the curtain of history?<\/b><\/p>\n
On the shore of the Baltic Sea stands a small, red barn. It is a metaphor for the Latvian \u00e9migr\u00e9 artist Raimonds Stapr\u0101ns, known as a realist expressionist. The barn takes on real form \u2013 becoming a historical laboratory not only for events in Latvian and European history, but also a reference point for the life story of a vivid, tenacious and untamed artist. The colours of San Francisco intermingle with the Latvian palette, past with present, feature film with documentary texture.<\/p>\n
Krilovs is a master of dramatised documentary film, having made such landmark pieces as Klucis: The Deconstruction of an Artist<\/i> (2008) and Obliging Collaborators<\/i> (2014). He has always been keen to explore the notion of personal responsibility, and people whose life stories raise questions about their era. The protagonist of his latest documentary is Stapr\u0101ns, who fled his homeland at the start of the Soviet occupation and went to the USA, where he became a celebrated artist and wrote plays about Latvian history. Both Krilovs and Stapr\u0101ns share an interest in historical figures, so in the film these characters \u2013 played by actors Imants Strads, Kaspars Zv\u012bgulis and others \u2013 come to life and pose questions to their author. The film sheds light on Stapr\u0101ns not only as a thinker and painter, but also as a playwright with a sharp-eyed and philosophical interest in Latvia whilst living on the other side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
The centenary year of Stapr\u0101ns (1926\u20132026) features several events highlighting his work, personality and life. His memoir “46 Episodes With and Without Irony” was recently published, and the exhibition “Raimonds Stapr\u0101ns: An Architecture of Silence” is on show at the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga.<\/p>\n","images":[{"ID":46431,"id":46431,"title":"_MG_7351_fotoAZelti\u0146a","filename":"MG_7351_fotoAZeltina.jpg","filesize":1871704,"url":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina.jpg","link":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina.jpg","alt":"","author":"21","description":"","caption":"","name":"e612def985f548f6afb8833d0a8db5bb","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":46430,"date":"2026-09-06 23:00:25","modified":"2026-09-06 23:00:44","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2048,"height":1365,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-250x167.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":167,"medium_large":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-1500x1000.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"large1200":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-1200x800.jpg","large1200-width":1200,"large1200-height":800,"large1800":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-1800x1200.jpg","large1800-width":1800,"large1800-height":1200,"small":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-120x80.jpg","small-width":120,"small-height":80,"uncompressed":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina.jpg","uncompressed-width":2048,"uncompressed-height":1365,"custom-size":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MG_7351_fotoAZeltina-700x200.jpg","custom-size-width":700,"custom-size-height":200}}],"in_cinemas":null,"on_demand":null,"not_available":null,"rights_expiry_date":null,"trailer_url":"","film_category":"","film_category_title":null,"film_category_link":null,"film_category_title_2":null,"film_category_link_2":null,"film_parent_select":false,"screenings":[{"month":"october","date":"18","end_date":"","time":"17:00","time_end":"","venue_url_languages":[{"type":"buy","sold_out":false,"closed":false,"free":false,"soon":false,"custom_button_text":"","invitation_only":false,"accreditations_only":false,"guest_accreditations_only":false,"guest_notice_with_icon":"","venue":"splz","custom_venue_text":"","url":"","bilesu_servisa_id":"509408","bilesu_servisa_id_2026":"CHZIKECHU7","custom_tickets_url":"","apply_url":"","subtitle_language":[{"value":"lv","label":"Latvian (lv)"}],"closed_captions_language":[],"audio_description_language":[],"audio_language":[{"value":"en","label":"English (en)"}]}],"tags":false,"event_post_title":"The Red Barn","event_post_url":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/en\/films-2026\/sarkanais-skunis\/","event_parent_details":[]}],"screenings_from_prog":null,"screenings_merged":[{"month":"october","date":"18","end_date":"","time":"17:00","time_end":"","venue_url_languages":[{"type":"buy","sold_out":false,"closed":false,"free":false,"soon":false,"custom_button_text":"","invitation_only":false,"accreditations_only":false,"guest_accreditations_only":false,"guest_notice_with_icon":"","venue":"splz","custom_venue_text":"","url":"","bilesu_servisa_id":"509408","bilesu_servisa_id_2026":"CHZIKECHU7","custom_tickets_url":"","apply_url":"","subtitle_language":[{"value":"lv","label":"Latvian (lv)"}],"closed_captions_language":[],"audio_description_language":[],"audio_language":[{"value":"en","label":"English (en)"}]}],"tags":false,"event_post_title":"The Red Barn","event_post_url":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/en\/films-2026\/sarkanais-skunis\/","event_parent_details":[]}],"artist":null,"album":null,"custom_supporter_title":"","supporter":false,"supporter_from_parent":null,"supporter_from_parent_title":null,"curators_foreword":"A double-portrait film in which director P\u0113teris Krilovs and artist Raimonds Stapr\u0101ns meet. History and the present intertwine, so do Riga and San Francisco, but the very eye of the storm in this film is an unusual building on the Baltic shore that has stepped right out of a painting by Stapr\u0101ns.","additional_content":"","jury_statement":false,"logo_on_image_text":"","logo_on_image_image":false,"available":false,"online_only":false,"poster":false,"available_until":"","geographical_availability":"latvia","geographical_availability_custom_short":"","geographical_availability_custom_long":"","subtitle_language_online":[],"cinesend_id":"","online_price":"","online_bs_id":"","collection_mode":false,"collection_screenings":false}