Latvia – Marta Kraujina, Kino Bize (Riga)

Latvia - Marta Kraujina

Cinema for me is…

Marta in 23 Frames

1. Describe yourself in ten words.
Young, ambitious human being in search of a deeper meaning.

2. Your best quality? Your worst habit?
Best quality – I’m open minded. Worst habit – I’m a smoker.

3. Your dream job?
I hope to become a film director.

4. What do you like most about your country?
Opportunities are everywhere.

5. Your favorite dish in your country?
Baked potatoes and fresh salad from garden.

6. Which word or phrase in your native language do you like the most and what does it mean?
Piķis nav problēma – initially it means “money is not a problem”, in one short film shooting,  me and my team were using this phrase ironically, because budget was very limited. From that day on, my production company PNP Productions was born.

7. What European capital have you visited lately?
Budapest in Hungary and Vilnius in Lithuania.

8. Other than your own, which European country would you love to live in?
Sweden.

9. What does Europe mean to you? 3 values.
Human rights.
Freedom.
Equality.

10. What film made you fall in love with cinema?
I remember from the time when I was a little girl,  one of my favorite films was Limuzīns Jāņu nakts krāsā  (Jānis Streičs, 1981, LV). It’s a comedy about an old lady who suddenly wins an expensive car in lottery. This film has left a huge impact on the way I view films.

11. Your favorite film theatre? What do you like about it?
Film theatre Kina Bize in Riga. It’s a small art house film theatre in the City center. They show independent films from all over the globe.

12. Who is your movie hero?
Harry Potter.

13. Which movie director would you like to be?
Agnès Varda.

14. Briefly describe your favorite scene.
Intouchables (Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano, 2011, FR)
In the opening scene of the film we see a white man in his 50’s and a black man in
his 30’s riding through light up city at the night. Both men are sitting in
silence looking through the windows. Suddenly the younger man sitting at the
wheel speeds up the car. They both chuckle, but soon enough the police sirens
are catching up to them. The younger man says “I bet you 100 euros that I’ll lose
them”.

15. What are the 3 best European films you have seen in the last year?
Homo Novus (Anna Viduleja, 2018, LV)
Yumorist (Mikhail Idov, 2018, RU)
Grâce à Dieu (François Ozon, 2019, FR)

16. Which film character do you most identify with?
Oliver Tate from Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2010, UK).

17. Your favorite soundtrack or song?
The soundtrack of Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013, EU)
and the soundtrack of Into the Wild (Sean Penn, 2007, US)

18. If you had to live in a movie, which one would you like it to be?
I think I would love to live in a fantasy film. Maybe The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001,US).

19. Your life becomes a bio-pic. Who plays the role of you?
Natasha Lyonne from TV series Russain Doll (Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, 2019, US) and Orange Is the New Black (Jenji Kohan, 2013, US).

20. Which talent would you most like to have?
Perfect Pitch.

21. What is your most treasured possession?
My grandmothers’ necklace with amber from Baltic sea.

22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Going to therapy and dealing with my problems.

23. What is your motto?
Life is life.

Marta Kraujina is the Ambassador of Kino Bize. Find out more about the Cinema here.