Whilst so much has been said, written and shot about World War II, most of it has largely concentrated on the Western Front and the Pacific theatre. This is largely due to who is speaking, writing and filming and where their audience resides. Unless you’re from that arena, the conflict on the Eastern front is less well known, outside one or two of the biggest battles. Citizens of those countries invaded by both the Nazis and the Communists normally had a torrid time.
In the final years of the war, the Red Army continued their inexorable march on Berlin. As the German forces retreated, the Reichskommissariat Ostland, the forces which occupied the Baltic states, were trapped in a pocket of Latvia known as the Courland Peninsula. They held out for almost a year. Growing up in the USSR during the Cold War, director Ilze Burkovska-Jacobsen gradually began to realise what she was being taught in school was not necessarily the truth. She tells her story in My Favourite War.
My Favourite War is a wonderful animated film which tells the story of many through the eyes of a young girl. The experiences of Latvians during the war mirror that of many nationals of other countries of the old Soviet Union. A people oppressed and subjugated. The experiences of civilians during wartime are often overlooked, but not only does My Favourite War help right a wrong it shows the impact propaganda and suppression has on subsequent generations.
My Favourite War screened at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
