Candid film about depression, suicidal tendencies and unbearable pain and shame, with clearly drawn characters in painted sets of papier-mâché and objects in stop motion.
Anna, the Latvian filmmaker’s grandmother, was a bright girl and had the opportunity to get an education. All the same, the film starts with her lying in a shallow river, without stones in her pockets. She forgot, although she needs them to drown herself successfully.
Anna started working as a secretary for a much older, adventurous entrepreneur. They fell in love and got married. But business slumps and it turns out the guy is terribly jealous. Economic recession strikes, followed by occupations by the Soviets, Nazis and again the Soviets. Anna dies at fifty. One of her eight children finds her in the morning. Filmmaker Signe distrusts the diagnosis that her grandmother died in her sleep. Rumours have had it for years that lunacy is prevalent in the family. Various cousins committed suicide and Signe herself is troubled by serious depressions. She was once told she was mentally ill and would never be able to work. But she rigorously outsmarted her DNA and found her destiny in animation.

This program screened as part of Haff 2015