To mark the 90th birthday of film director Jānis Streičs, the National Film Centre (NKC) has updated its streaming portal, Filmas.lv, by adding latviešu valodas subtitri to several Russian-language Soviet-era films and expanding its collection of the director’s 1960s and 1970s works, according to NKC representative Kristīne Matīsa.
Expanded Access to Soviet-Era Classics via Filmas.lv
Viewers can now access all of Streičs's films from the 1960s and 1970s, including his acting performances in movies directed by others. Among the additions is Streičs's second independent feature film, the 1972 work "Vālodzīte", shot by cinematographer Māris Rudzītis with a visual design by Ināra Antone, the first female art director at Riga Film Studio.
Notable Additions to the Streičs Collection
The updated portal features several key titles from the director’s career, including the 1976 Russian-language feature “Meistars”. The film marked Streičs’s first collaboration with actress Vija Artmane, who played factory workshop supervisor Aina Petrovna. Pēteris Gaudiņš starred as a young worker returning from army service, alongside Katrīne Pasternaka, who made her screen debut as Valentīna.
Other newly subtitled works include Oļģerts Dunkers’s 1973 film “Cāļus skaita rudenī”, set in a vocational agricultural school and featuring actors Kārlis Sebris, Jānis Kaijaks, and Streičs as educators. Streičs also appears in Dunkers’s 1977 adaptation of Zigmunds Skujiņš’s novel “Vīrietis labākajos gados”, playing a young telephone factory director alongside Lithuanian lead actors Vītauts Tomkus and Vaiva Mainelīte.
Early Directorial Works and Later Periods
The collection now houses “Līvsalas zēni”, a 1969 teen drama created with director Ēriks Lācis based on Laimonis Vāczemnieks’s story about post-war secrets in a Riga suburban school. It also includes Streičs’s first independent directorial effort, the 1970 feature “Šauj manā vietā”, in which he played a fake clergyman and gang leader named Arsēnijs, as well as the 1974 comedy “Uzticamais draugs Sančo”.
These additions complement the portal’s existing collection of Streičs’s classic films, which already featured “Limuzīns Jāņu nakts krāsā” (1981), “Mans draugs – nenopietns cilvēks” (1975), “Cilvēka bērns” (1991), and “Likteņdzirnas” (1997). Viewers can also stream his two-part films exploring foreign settings, “Teātris” (1978) and “Nepabeigtās vakariņas” (1979), alongside 1980s works like “Svešās kaislības” (1983) and “Aizaugušā grāvī viegli krist” (1986). The director’s 21st-century output is represented by “Rudens rozes” (2004), a contemporary adaptation of Elīna Zālīte’s 1930s play, alongside his children’s comedy debut “Kapteiņa Enriko pulkstenis” (1967) and his 2010 rural feature “Rūdolfa mantojums”.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch Jānis Streičs’s films online?
Are all Russian-language films by Streičs now available in Latvian?
Latvian subtitles have been added to several key films produced in Russian during the Soviet era, completing the public availability of his 1960s and 1970s filmography.
What are some notable films included in the update?
The update adds titles such as “Vālodzīte” (1972), “Meistars” (1976), “Cāļus skaita rudenī” (1973), and “Šauj manā vietā” (1970), along with several acting credits in films by other directors.
Explore the complete collection of digitally restored classics on Filmas.lv and share your favorite Jānis Streičs film moments in the comments below.
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