"Europe: Don't make concessions to Soviet imperialism" is written on a banner in the 1990 documentary "The Baltic Way," set during those crucial years when the Baltic states fought for their sovereignty from the Soviet Union.

The documentary highlights how Moscow did not accept the aspirations for independence of the peoples of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, describing their desires as "nationalist hysteria." The Russian leadership questioned their "viability" — and it wouldn't be the last time that would be happening.

"Many people who took to the streets at the time said they felt a strong sense of freedom," recalls Latvian director Laila Pakalnina, then a Riga Film Academy graduate.

She shot her graduation film "The Cathedral" — which will be shown at this year's documentary film festival DOK Leipzig — during the decisive days of confrontation between Latvia and the Soviet Union, in January 1991.

She and her team accompanied people who had taken shelter in a cathedral in Riga. In addition to medical personnel, people came to the capital from all over the country for the independence demonstrations and found shelter there.

During the filming, a wedding even took place, which Laila Pakalnina spontaneously filmed. The short film ends with the sad reality of that time. The cameraman who filmed the wedding is shot dead the following day on the streets of Riga.

"We decided not to have a narration in the film. The images should speak for themselves," says Laila Pakalnina. 

"Back in the days of socialism, documentaries were always accompanied by a voice-over. The regime wanted everyone to understand the same thing, to think the same," explains Pakalnina. "I've only ever made my films without voice-overs since then."

On September 6, 1991, the Soviet Union finally recognized the independence of all three Baltic states. It was followed by the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region.

DOK Leipzig and the view of resistance

Documentary films depicting people's resistance to Soviet power and communist regimes will be shown this year at DOK Leipzig in the Retrospective section.

In addition to Laila Pakalnina's film "The Cathedral," the program includes other films such as "Birth of Solidarity" (1981), "Confusion" (documenting the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968), "Hungary in Flames" (which came out in 1957, a year after the Hungarian Revolution) and many more.

"These themes endure today as there are still many uprisings in the world, with people standing up against authoritarian, dictatorial states, and fighting for their freedom," say the curators of the retrospective, Andreas Kötzing and Katharina Franck.

Recurring problem

"These uprisings did not disappear with the end of the Cold War. We could have continued this program all the way to the revolutions in the North African states or the Maidan," says Kötzing, who is also a researcher at Dresden's Hannah-Arendt Institute, which focuses on the political, social and cultural developments in totalitarian regimes.

The fight for independence from the Soviet sphere couldn't be more topical, if you look at the situation in Ukraine, adds the film curator. 

"With this retrospective we also aim to stimulate a discussion that encourages people to question and reflect on the current political circumstances," points out Kötzing. "Everyone and anyone can discover something, regardless of generation and knowledge background," adds Franck, who is also film curator at the Cinematheque Leipzig.

For director Laila Pakalnina, the documentaries from back then also resonate loudly: "It's important to see the films from the end of the 1980s, beginning of the 1990s, because unfortunately history repeats itself," she says. "Today, as then, we have this big, dangerous neighbor that is now killing people in Ukraine."

Leipzig: The ideal location

The festival in Leipzig was founded in 1955, and is seen as the oldest documentary film festival in the world.

Leipzig has since become one of the most important meeting places for the international documentary film scene. But the festival's history also has its upheavals, which the current retrospective does not omit.

"There were strong ripples in terms of the festival's freedoms, as to which films could be shown and which guests could be invited," says co-curator Andreas Kötzing.

The festival in Leipzig, located in the former East German communist GDR, was always clearly driven by its political convictions: "There was a very strong commitment against the oppression of people; films about the Vietnam War and later about military dictatorships in Latin America were shown," explains Kötzing.

However, there were, of course, topics that could not be addressed due to censorship, such as those that dealt with cultural policy in the Eastern states, for example: "Social engagement for oppressed peoples in the world meant primarily engagement against imperialism, against what was happening in the Western states; it was much more difficult to show solidarity with the states and peoples that were oppressed in the socialist countries or even to make references to unrest there. That was very taboo."

The DOK Leipzig retrospective is also a critical examination of Leipzig's own festival history, he explains.

This year's retrospective shows precisely those films that were made under difficult conditions at the time and were often not allowed to be shown, or films that managed to very subtly bypass the censors and somehow tried to integrate this theme into their films, even though they were aware of the danger, such as "The Match Ballad," (1953).

The program also features films that were shot without ever knowing if and when they would be allowed to be shown, or whose film reels were smuggled to the West, through filmmakers having fled to the USA.

It is a look at the struggle against communist dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, from a not-so-distant past — events that still have ramifications today.

The DOK Leipzig film festival takes place from October 8 to 15, 2023.

This article was originally written in German.