Herz Frank film retrospective  

The Last Judgement

Herz Frank confronts the spectator with the moral problems involved in the death penalty. He enters into a dialogue with Valerij Dolgov, a man who has been sentenced to death for having committed a double murder. He does not give an inexhaustible enumeration of motives that could have led up to the killing. Frank sketches a picture of Dolgov’s past in which a loveless youth, an exceptionally strong desire for leadership, a very ambitious nature and his involvement in the black market have given shape to his character.

Awards

Latvian Film Awards “Lielais Kristaps” – Best Director, 1987
Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival – Audience Award, 1988

The Song of Songs

A short film about human love and birth.

10 Minutes Older

The title refers to the length of this cinematic experiment about the power of exaltation, but also to
the toddlers and preschoolers appearing before the camera. Ten minutes of their lives go by while
they watch a puppet show, of which director Herz Frank shows us nothing at all. All we see are the
concentrated expressions of the little kids. The director captures every movement of their mouths
and eyes in detail. The emotions behind those expressions change at a quick tempo and cannot be
fathomed just like that..

Herz Frank

One of the most famous documentary filmmakers of Latvia who at the beginning of 1960 was
among the first to establish the so-called Riga poetic documentary school – the Latvian “new
wave”. He was born in Latvia, in 1926, studied law in Moscow. Worked as a journalist, lecturer and
advertisement designer. Since 1965, Herz Frank works solely as a film director. Frank’s
filmography includes more than 80 films, many of which have justly been included in the golden
funds of Latvian film history. During his life Herz Frank has received Life contribution award in
cinema, among which is also the recognition by the Latvian National film festival (2001). Herz
Frank died in Israel, in 2013.

Selected Filmography

Noon, 1965
235 000 000 , 1967
Your Pay-day, 1971
Life, 1972 
Diagnosis, 1975
Restricted Area, 1975
10 Minutes Older, 1978
Edgar Kaulin’s Lats Birthday, 1980
The Last Judgement, 1987
The Song of Songs, 1989
There Were Seven Simeons, 1989
Jewish Street, 1992
The Man of the Wall, 1998
Flashback, 2002
Perpetual Rehearsal, 2009
After, 2009
Beyond the Fear, 2014