What Silent Gerda Knows

Closing day of the season in the boarding house at the Vietinghoff Palace in the province of Latvia. Here the material world and atmosphere of the 1930s are reconstructed as fully as possible. According to the rules of the institution, guests must abandon all their means of digital communications. And this is what they are looking for: to disappear, at least for a while, and become inaccessible to the outside world. The lingering summer heat drags the guests into an insane frenzy where surrealistic and grotesque situations build up an ambiguous comedy.

Directed by Jevgēņijs Paškēvičs, What Silent Gerda Knows leans on a strong ensemble — Severija Janušauskaitė, Leonid Yarmolnik, Leonardas Pobedonoscevas — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2020.