The Film “The Red Barn” | “Siguldas devons” Cultural Centre

In December, we invite you to see Pēteris Krilovs’s film “The Red Barn” at “Siguldas devons” Cultural Centre. The film is about artist Raimonds Staprāns. Nearly a hundred years old, Latvian-born Staprāns had become an acclaimed painter in California, across the ocean, while in his homeland he is remembered as a playwright. In the film, characters created by the artist come to life. They enter the red barn—a Staprāns painting that transforms into a film set where the downfall of an independent state is acted out. Director Pēteris Krilovs explores the relationship between the artist and power, blending the personal with the political, California’s colour with Latvia’s palette, and acted scenes with documentary material.

In director Pēteris Krilovs’s vision, Latvia—whose name is grammatically feminine—is a woman with whom he has had a personal relationship throughout his life. A small red barn stands on the Baltic Sea coast. It is a metaphor for Latvian émigré artist Raimonds Staprāns, described as a figurative expressionist. The barn has taken on real form: it becomes a historical laboratory for events in Latvian and European history, as well as a point of reference for the life of a vivid, resilient and untamed artist. San Francisco’s colour, Latvia’s palette, the past, the present, acted scenes and documentary textures intertwine.

Krilovs is a master of staged documentary filmmaking. His landmark works include “Klucis. Nepareizais latvietis” (2008) and “Uz spēles Latvija” (2014). He has long been interested in personal responsibility and in people whose life stories bring the questions of their era into sharp focus. The subject of his latest documentary is Staprāns, who fled his homeland for the United States at the beginning of the Soviet occupation, became an acclaimed artist and wrote plays about Latvian history. Krilovs and Staprāns share an interest in historical figures, and so these characters—portrayed in the film by actors Imants Strads, Kaspars Zvīgulis and others—come to life and question their author. The film reveals Staprāns not only as a thinker and painter, but also as a playwright with a keen, philosophical interest in Latvia, living across the ocean.

“The Red Barn” is the culmination of events marking Raimonds Staprāns’s centenary. Threads of the artist’s work, personality and life are explored in Ieva Struka’s recently published book “46 epizodes ar un bez ironijas”. The exhibition “Raimonds Staprāns. Klusuma arhitektūra” is on view at the Latvian National Museum of Art until 17 January next year.

Director: Pēteris Krilovs | 73 min | 2026 | VFS Films