May 23, 2016 marks 85 years since the passing of the Latvian actor and director Gunārs Cilinskis (1931-1992). The National Film Centre’s website www.filmas.lv will feature a number of films in memorium, both those in which Cilinskis worked as an actor and those he directed.
Actor Gunārs Cilinskis, who made his theatre debut in 1955, earned the right to film roles through his creative popularity with his first film premiering in 1958 together with Vija Artmane – he played fisherman Jānis in director Ada Neretniece film “Svešiniece ciemā”. In the 60s, film actor Gunārs Cilinskis fostered great popularity throughout the Soviet Union with the role of Nikolai Kuznetsov in the Sverdlovsk Film Studio film Strong with Spirit (1968), while committed to intensive and diverse filming in Latvia. In the 70s, he showcased bright comic talents in the role of a mouse trap industrialist ungulate in Rolands Kalniņš’ film Ceplis / The Kiln Affair (1972), while in Jānis Streičs film Teātris / Theatre (1978) he performed as Maikls Goslins, reflecting forever in Cilinskis the author’s characterisation of “the most beautiful man in Latv… England!”.
As early as 1975, Gunārs Cilinskis left the theatre to explore directing, as for some time he’d aspired for freedom of choice, which is not possible in an actor’s profession. His brilliant debut, melodrama Ezera sonāte / Lake Sonata (1976, in collaboration with director Varis Brasla), was published online on April 8 at filmas.lv, as part of the anniversary celebrated by Astrīda Kairiša- director and actor Cilinskis’ (also playing doctor Rūdolfs) screen partner. The same website will on May 26 celebrate the anniversary of Lake Sonata’s composer Imants Kalniņš (1941). Online will be a restored copy of the film, financed by the National Film Centre in 2008 through EU funds; Lake Sonata was the second film in the NFC’s classics heritage restoration program.
Filmas.lv’s online commemoration of Gunārs Cilinskis features two more films from the Latvian film history’s lesser-known pages – the 90s – and also the last two films Cilincskis produced as director (all together equaling nine feature films).
Two-part film Werewolves’ Heiress (1990) is based on 40-year-old popular novel by Ilona Leimane, and features Zane Jančevska as the temperamental Alīda and Gunārs Cilinskis as the old master (his last film role).
In turn, the film The Indrans (1991) is considered a noble mission that favours Latvian culture- featuring national landmarks and history, with Kārlis Sebris playing Indrans’ father and Gunārs Cilinskis’ wife Velta Līne performing as Indrans’ mother. Gunārs Cilinskis was the film’s director and scriptwriter.
Website www.filmas.lv is Latvian film’s widest data base and offers a great opportunity to legally and free of charge view Latvian films throughout the country. The portal was created by the Ministry of Culture initiatives with support of the European Union, cooperating with the National Film Centre and the Cultural Information System Centre, which provides technical operation of the site.