Synopsis

Latvia, the late 1920’s. Anna, a young woman, pretty and educated, falls in love with an adventurous entrepreneur, 30 years her senior. But with marriage comes great jealousy, and the entrepreneur hides Anna away in the forest, far from other men, where she bears him eight children. The Great Depression hits them hard. Then Latvia is overrun with invasions by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets once again. Anna is a pillar of strength, defying the hardships, raising her young, teaching them survival secrets of the forest. But something inside her is terribly wrong. Personal story of animator Signe Baumane about the woman from her family, including herself, and their battles with madness. The film is packed with visual metaphors.

Signe Baumane

Signe Baumane, an independent animator known for her controversial films on the subjects of sex, pregnancy, dentists and madness, was born in Latvia in 1964. Signe studied Philosophy at the Moscow State University. The one thing she learned in her five years of Philosophy study was that knowledge is relative: what you know to be the truth today can become a lie tomorrow. In 1991 Signe was given an opportunity to direct her first animated short, The Witch and the Cow. When the film was finished Signe started to work as a freelance designer and illustrator with publishing houses in Moscow and Riga. Ever since she wrote, directed, designed and animated 16 shorts and two animated feature films.