Valiant! (2021) [N/A]
Directed by:
Mara Pelecis
Release Date:
November 18, 2021
Original Title:
Valiant! Brauciens uz brīvu Latviju
Genres:
Documentary
Production Countries:
Latvia
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 73
A Car, A Cause, And The Cold War
Feature documentary on the antics of North American Latvian youth in the 1980s, during the last years of the Cold War – from chaining themselves to the Russian Embassy, to organizing an entire cruise ship treading the Soviet border in the Baltic Sea – generating headlines when few could even find Latvia on a map. The main hero is Juris Bļodnieks’ old Chrysler Valiant “Slant Six” that has been in storage for 25 years: painted with anti-Soviet slogans such as “Nyet, nyet Soviet!” and “Go(rbachev) to hell!”. A generation of US Latvians remembers the car appearing in demonstrations across North America. Day to day, while driving around his home state of New Jersey, Juris used the car to further the seemingly hopeless task – to free an illegally occupied Latvia.
When Juris, a New Jersey native born to Latvian WW2 refugees, lifts the tarp that's been covering his old car for 25 years, he finds his '71 Chrysler "Slant Six" invaded by earthworms and stray cats. Still decorated with a caricature of Gorbachev as well as "Nyet Nyet Soviet" and other anti-Soviet slogans, the Valiant chauffeured Latvian freedom activists to Soviet embassies from DC to Ottawa through the final years of the Cold War in the 1980s. Driving day to day between New York and New Jersey, the car's decor provided some much needed PR for a country few could find on a map. Protests led by Latvians living in exile kept the plight of the Soviet occupied Baltic States on the radar of the press, and in turn, the foreign policymakers of the US. Valiant. reveals the strategic thinking that went into creating an effective and newsworthy protest, as well as the resoluteness of organizers, born and raised in the United States, to make use of unorthodox methods as they fought for their cause. The protest leaders, almost all having been arrested at some point, later emerged as policy makers both in Latvia and the United States. Meanwhile, Juris enlists his friend to help resurrect his rusted Valiant and bring it back to where it all started - Latvia.
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