Juris Podnieks

Juris Podnieks was born in Riga, Latvia in 1950. He graduated from the celebrated Soviet film school, VGIK, in 1975. He went to work at the Riga studio, first as assistant cameraman, then as cameraman before finally becoming a director in 1979. His first production "The Cradle" won a prize at the Leipzig Festival, and shortly afterwards "The Brothers Kokari” took first prize at the Kiev Youth Festival in 1981. In the same year he received wide recognition inside and outside of the Soviet Union for his film „Constellation of Riflemen” which won honours in the 17th All State Festival in Leningrad, and also the Latvian Kosovo prize. The film which first won him international recognition was "Is It Easy To Be Young?” which exploded many popular myths about Soviet youth. Juris happened to shoot some footage of young people at a rock concert in July 1985, which achieved some notoriety because a train returning to Riga afterwards was badly vandalised. He tracked down some of the youngsters and questioned them about their lives and aspirations. Two of them were tried and convicted of criminal damage on the train, and Juris managed to bluff his way into the courtroom to film the trial. The film broke box-office records in the Soviet Union and was later shown across the world. Podnieks’ collaborations with British Television (Central TV and Channel 4) have been very rewarding, giving British viewers insights and perceptions into events inside the Soviet Union. "Hello, Do You Here U…