A sensitive portrayal of a 12-year-old boy learning to assume responsibility for his actions and realising that honesty is required to be a good friend. Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin FF!
Raimonds does what he can to make his strict mother proud – he even plays saxophone in the school band instead of riding his kickboard in a skate park. When he tries to cover up a bad note at school, a spiral of lies is started, which soon spins out of control. Thanks to his friend Peteris, whose mother is a cleaner, Raimonds gets hold of the keys to a fancy apartment and wants to spend the night there. Unfortunately, the owner comes back home with a girl, who not only robs Raimonds but also takes his saxophone. The boy has to venture into the night Riga to get his instrument back. When Peteris is accused of robbing the flat, Raimonds has to decide whether to save his friendship or his face in front of the mother. An excellent, thoughtful drama about coming of age.
“Though Raimonds is faced with a moral dilemma – to act dishonestly and escape punishment or tell the truth and face backlash – I tried to avoid teaching my protagonist a moral lesson. Instead, I was looking to portray a child, who thrown into the wildest of circumstances and confronted with tough choices, manages to maintain humanity and gain conscience. In other words, a child who ‘grows up’”. (Janis Nords)
Janis Nords
After working extensively as assistant director on various Latvian features and TV commercials, Nords shot his feature debut, Amateur, in 2008. The film won Best Debut Award at the Latvian National Film Festival. He then studied film directing at National Film and Television School in Britain. Mother, I Love You is Janis Nords' second feature.