Drama series

·

·

2021

Emily. Queen of Press

Emily. Queen of Press

Emily. Queen of Press

Outside Latvia - miniseries can be streamed on Vimeo On Demand

Synopsis

A mini-series about Emīlija Benjamiņa, the “queen of the press” in interwar Latvia, whose wealth and tragic fate have since become folklore. The film’s narrative covers the period from the beginnings of Emīlija’s magazine Atpūta (Recreation), to her arrest and slow demise in a train en route to Siberia. Each episode focuses on one significant part of her life and illustrates different aspects of her personality – family life, entrepreneurship, how she established her social status, her influence on politics and culture, her dreams and obstacles as a woman and ultimately how her own employees betrayed her.

The most prominent clairvoyant of the time - Eugene Fink’s prophecy that Emīlija would die from starvation in a foreign land (which served to be true) weaves through the narrative as a red thread. With this strong woman at the centre of the story, the film shows Latvian society in all its richness and gives the audience the opportunity to meet many well-known historical figures. Six episodes are made as feature fiction episodes - filmmakers’ artistic interpretation of the protagonist and various historical events, and the seventh and last episode is a collection of documentary evidence of how things were, and what remains today.

Director

Andis Mizišs, Kristīne Želve, Dāvis Sīmanis

Countries

Latvia

Runtime

7 x 60 min

Status

Released

Inside the film

Credits

Director: Andis Mizišs, Kristīne Želve, Dāvis Sīmanis

Script: Ivo Briedis, Baņuta Rubess, Aiva Birbele, Tabita Rudzāte

Cinematographer: Andrejs Rudzāts

Set Designer: Kristīne Jurjāne, Aivars Žukovskis

Costume Designer: Aija Strazdiņa, Rūta Kuplā

Editor: Armands Začs, Paula Popmane, Andris Grants, Toms Krauklis

1st Assistant Director: Laura Meļķe

Production Manager: Ilze Krūmiņliepa

Main Cast: Guna Zariņa

Cast: Juris Bartkevičs, Raimonds Celms, Baiba Broka, Inga Tropa-Fišere, Sandis Runge, Lauris Dzelzītis, Uldis Anže, Jēkabs Reinis u.c.

Casting: Māra Liniņa

Producer: Gints Grūbe, Inese Boka-Grūbe

Supporters

NKC logo.
LTV logo.
TET logo.
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia logo.