MY FATHER THE SPY

Virtual Screening: November 4-13

MY FATHER THE SPY (Spiegs, kurš mans tēvs)
Jaak Klimi & Gints Grube, Latvia/Germany/Czechia/Estonia, 2019
83 minutes, In Russian, English, Swedish and Latvian with English Subtitles

As a young Soviet student in 1978, Ieva could not have predicted that a holiday visit to her father, Imants Lešinskis, working in the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York City, would irreversibly split her life in two. Entangled in a dark spy game, Ieva was forced to leave her former life behind, never to see her mother or her homeland of Latvia again. In order to find herself and understand the game she unwittingly became part of, Ieva sets out on a journey into the past to confront family secrets, lies, and betrayal.

Festival History
Sheffield International Documentary Festival, 2019
Ji.Hlava International Documentary Festival, 2019

Tags: Latvia, Documentary, History

Director bio:

Jaak Kilmi graduated from Tallinn University where he majored in film directing. He has (co-)directed and produced a string of award-winning short films, a number of documentaries, and two feature films, which have received international recognition. He is well known for his socio-critical films that deal with the Soviet era and its repercussions on today’s life. His most recognized films include: documentary fiction Disco & Atomic War (2009), and My Father the Spy (2019) and the feature films Revolution of Pigs (2004), and Came to Visit (1997).

Director bio:

Gints Grūbe worked extensively in media before setting up his own company, Mistrus Media in 2000. He has been a scriptwriter, producer, and director for more than 10 documentaries. His productions have included Escaping Riga (2014), the war drama The Chronicles of Melanie (2016), Emīlija. Queen of the Press (2021), and January (2022), which won Best International Film at the Tribeca Film Festival.