Words, My Words
2024
Video with sound
14 minutes 16 seconds

Filmed during five days in Riga and Jūrmala, Latvia. The video circles around late poet Vizma Belševica. Spanning from her childhood years in the 1930s until the death of her son, poet Klāvs Elsbergs in 1987. His death also marked the end of Vizma as a poet, stating “Poetry is written with the heart and my heart is dead”. In this film her second son and brother of Klāvs, poet Jānis Elsbergs, tells the story from the family apartment in Riga, where he now lives and works.

Edited by
David Danell

Filmed by
David Danell
Felicia Fasanino Jansson

Color Grading
Felicia Fasanino Jansson
David Danell

Locations
Family apartment of Belševica/Elsbergs in Riga, Latvia.
Zigfrīda Meierovica Prospekts 9, former Soviet Writers Union, Jūrmala, Latvia.
Jūrmala Beach, Jūrmala, Latvia.
Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia.

Poems and Translations
Jānis Elsbergs reading excerpt from his poem Daugavas Bulvaris (Daugava Boulevard), 2000. Translated to English for the sake of this video by Jānis Elsbergs.
Vizma Belševica reading Vārdi par Vārdiem, 1969. From CD Vizma Belševica Melns - Sarkans - Zelts… Produced by SIA Apostrofs, 2010. English translation by Māra Rozītis.

Other
Pavasara Tecīla (Grindstone Of The Spring), 1987. Filmed projection of the video piece when displayed at the Latvian National Museum of Art, 2024.
Prints by Gūnars Binde, from Vizma Belševica’s Dzeltu Laiks (Autumn Time), Liesma, 1987.

Special Thanks
To Jānis Elsbergs, I will be forever grateful for how you invited me to your home and life story.