Scarecrows
Behind every take-off at Riga Airport lies a hidden world where humans and wildlife share the same runway.
Acclaimed Latvian filmmaker Laila Pakalniņa takes us behind the scenes of Riga International Airport to uncover a world few travellers ever notice. Beneath the roar of jet engines and the rush of passengers, an unassuming team of “runway rangers” wages a constant, high-stakes and sometimes comical battle with nature itself. Armed with flare guns, nets, and sheer determination, they spend long hours honking horns and chasing rabbits and birds across the runways, even contending with the occasional lost worm.
Filmed across four seasons, Pakalniņa’s patient lens reveals the extraordinary in the everyday, capturing a cinematic world where giant airbuses glide past elegant storks and the routines of aviation collide with the unpredictability of wildlife. It is a space both complex and quietly dramatic – where progress and nature remain locked in a delicate struggle.
Mike Arnott
Laila Pakalniņa (1962) graduated in film direction from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK) and has directed over 30 documentaries and fiction films. Pakalnina appeared on the international scene when two of her documentaries were chosen for Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes film festival. Her first feature film, “The Shoe”, was a return to Soviet Union in 1950s (PÖFF 1998). Pakalnina’s second feature “The Python” was selected at Venice Film Festival programme and was shown also at PÖFF. Pakalnina’s documentary “Three Men and Fishbound” (2008, co-directed with Maris Maskalans) won the Best Baltic Film prize at PÖFF. Her films “Dawn” (2015) and “In the Mirror” (2020) have also participated in PÖFF's Main Competition programme.
Filmograafia:
(Valik/Selected): Kurpe (King, PÖFF 1998), Pitons (Püüton, PÖFF 2003), Kilnieks (Koer, lennuk ja laulupidu, PÖFF 2006), Par dzimteniti (Kolm meest ja kalatiik, doc, PÖFF 2008, co-dir), 33 Zveri Ziemassvetku Vecitim (Jõuluvana 33 looma, doc, 2011), Ausma (Koidik, PÖFF 2015), Karote (Lusikas, doc, PÖFF 2019), Spoguli (Peegelpildis, PÖFF 2020), Mājas (Kodud, PÖFF 2021, doc), Termini (2024, doc), Putnubiedēkļi (Scarecrows, 2025)
Kurpe (King, PÖFF 1998), Tusya (2000), Pitons (Püüton, PÖFF 2003), Buss (The Bus, doc, 2004), Kilnieks (Koer, lennuk ja laulupidu, PÖFF 2006), Par dzimteniti (Kolm meest ja kalatiik, doc, PÖFF 2008, co-dir), 33 Zveri Ziemassvetku Vecitim (Jõuluvana 33 looma, doc, 2011), Picas (Pizzas, 2012), Skurstenis (The Chimney, 2013), Ausma (Koidik, PÖFF 2015), Karote (Lusikas, doc, PÖFF 2019), Spoguli (In the Mirror, 2020)