Laura un Vineta (2017)

Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay

I’ve been following the DUST channel on YouTube for a few months now and really wanted to share this beautiful short film by Roberts Kulenko and Peteris Puritis.

When Letitia saw it, she immediately pointed out my similarity to Aldis. (I’m as attached to my Kipfler crop as he is to his Russets.) So maybe I’m already biased.

Laura un Vineta is my absolute favourite style of science fiction, and executed perfectly.

We are drawn into the human story sympathetically and with a gentle humour. Although Aldis will be totally alien to most viewers, his quirkiness is portrayed with such empathy that we can’t help but join him in his emotional journey. The interactions with his sister and brother-in-law invite us right into the family – and his reaction to an extraordinary event is so true to character that it’s impossible to judge it by our own standards. Outstanding performances from Leons Lescinskis, Tatjena Lukashenkova and Ugis Rotbergs!

Aldis reminds me of Allen Van Beld, another person who is perfectly comfortable in his own skin, regardless of what others might think. I only hope I have written Allen as well as Aldis.

I won’t go on with spoilers. Watch the film, it’s brilliant.

Laura un Vineta by Roberts Kulenko and Peteris Puritis.