Scarecrows (Latvia, Lithuania, 2025, 90′)

Italian subtitles

Thursday 8 October, 2.30 p.m., Cinema Massimo, Screen 3, Via Giuseppe Verdi, 18

In collaboration with CGIL – CISL – UIL Torino.

On Thursday 8 October at 2.30 p.m. at Cinema Massimo, Screen 3, Job Film Days, in collaboration with CGIL-CISL-UIL Torino, presents the Italian premiere of Scarecrows by Laila Pakalnina. Filmed over four seasons, the documentary goes behind the scenes at Riga Airport, following the teams responsible for monitoring animals on the runways and preventing accidents and collisions. This little-known job, which demands constant attention and allows no breaks, is portrayed through the ironic and distinctive gaze of one of Latvia’s leading filmmakers.

Followed by a discussion with Salvatore Giallombardo (Secretary, FIT-CISL Piemonte).

Admission: by invitation. A limited number of tickets are available to the public.

Italian premiere

International title: Scarecrows
Original title: Putnubiedekli
Director, screenplay: Laila Pakalnina
Photography: Maris Maskalans
Edit: Ieva Veiveryté
Music: Paulius Kilbauskas, Vygintas Kisecicius 
Sound: Jonas Maksvytis 
Production: Moonmakers, VFS Films

Shot across four seasons, the latest movie by Laila Pakalnina, one of the leading filmmakers in Latvia and Baltic countries – Italian premiere at the festival – takes us to discover a hidden side of an airport, one of those that transit passengers cannot see. We are specifically at the Riga international airport, ready to take a “behind the scenes” journey into the airfield spaces and their surroundings areas where “Scarecrows” work, rescue teams in charge of monitoring the animals that frequent the area, starting with various birds in flight. Their job is to prevent accidents, collisions between animals and airplanes, plus rescuing and freeing trapped animals. It is a job that knows no breaks or days off, men and women take turns to ensure the area is always monitored.

Laila Pakalnina. Born in Liepaja in 1962 and graduated in journalism at Moscow University and in cinema at VGIK, she’s one of the most internationally renowned and acclaimed Latvian directors. Alternating documentaries to fictional cinema, her work stands out for the irony and the unusual way in which she catches and describes simple things. She began making films in the late 1980s, launching a filmography that was instantly distinctive. 

Filmography:The Shoe (1998), The Python (2003), The Bus (mlf, doc., 2004), The Hostage (2006), Three Men and a Fish Pond (mlf, doc., 2008), 33 Animals of Santa Claus (mlf, doc., 2011), Picas (2012), The Chimney (mlf, doc., 2013), Ausma (2015), Spoon (doc., 2019), In the Mirror (2020), Majas (doc., 2021), Termini (doc., 2024), Cat On My Mind (2025), Scarecrows (doc., 2025).