Freedom in Nets

Six children in the same courtyard, each one of them victim to a different form of family violence. A neglectful, egoistic doctor who pays no attention to his neighbors, not even to the old sailor who saved his life. An aging policeman, a failed theatre director and a master mason, with the transforming city of Riga in the backdrop. A country cottage in flames and a family break up, within the context of an indecipherable destiny. Two children – brother and sister – on the road towards a city as unreal as themselves.

Osvalds Zebris’ stories capture those moments of existence visible only to the most attentive observer, laying particular attention on language and an idiosyncratic vision of the world. His characters seem bound to an irrevocable destiny, even if all of them are given a choice in the end, the freedom to decide their own lives. The stories are brought together by the enigmatic, ephemeral, recurring character of Mihails, who connects the dots of freedom between each of them.