Documentary „The Closed Coast”

Directed by Māra Zirnīte

Photo, audio and film materials from 1984-1988 by Vaira Strautniece

   „The Closed Coast” takes us back to the beginning of the 20th century in Lūžņa village – Lūž kilā in the Livonian language – when it was one of twelve Livonian fishing villages along the Baltic Sea coast. By the end of the 20th century, Lūžņa was no longer a village – just a bus stop with one road to an unnamed missile base and another road featuring a landscape with a roof of a former living house. A grand radio observatory and a town for military personnel, called Zvyozdochka, was located in the middle of the forest nearby. However, in the 1980s it was still possible to meet and speak with a few of the original inhabitants of Lūžņa – Lizete Švanenberga, Alvīne Mūrniece, and Ernests Mūrnieks.

Documentary consists of 11 stories –

Lizete’s stories:
          In exile in Sevastopol
          Grandmother
          Blue cows
          The Livonian language
          The fern blossom

Alvīne’s stories:
          Ancestors
          Bombs
          Court

Ernests’ stories:
          Fire in the forest and on the sea
          Homes
          The victors

Watch „The Closed Coast” online!

www.youtube.com/watch