Second episode of the #mindpower series brings Rainis to Estonia

The second episode of the #mindpower short film project brings the ideas of the Latvian poet Rainis to Estonia. The project is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Rainis and his wife, the poet Aspazija.

This time, viewers meet Üllar Saaremäe. He is an Estonian actor, director, the current artistic director of Rakvere Theatre and a punk band singer. He also devised the concept of the Estonian Punk Song Festival which, since 2008, has become a regular event with a large international audience.

In this short film Üllar Saaremäe and Rainis (played by Jānis Holšteins-Upmanis) interpret Rainis’ poem A Living Life from the poetry collection The End and The Beginning (1912). This poem depicts the theme of self-development and constant change. Rainis uses the Latin expression ‘ En ago venko nia’ (In action is our victory) as the subtitle of the poem.

The director of this episode Olafs Okonovs explains: “Rainis is a restless person - always in motion physically and spiritually. There are famous film shots of him doing gymnastics. Üllar Saaremäe is just as powerful - he can set a nation in motion with theatre, movies and a punk song festival. This short film invites every viewer to share this physical and spiritual growth. 

The #mindpower (#domasspēks in Latvian) project features a collection of 29 short films in which celebrities from all the EU Member States read excerpts from the works of Rainis and Aspazija in their native language and clothe them in images of their culture. Each week a new video is released on the Presidency’s website EU2015.LV.

You can also watch the episodes on the Presidency’s official Youtube channel.