Karosta: Life After the USSR

Streaming video - 2008

The abandoned military port of Karosta, in Western Latvia has seen some of the most influential and disturbing eras of modern times from Russian Tsarist origins, to Nazi and then Soviet occupation. When the Russian army left in 1994 after Latvian independence, Karosta became largely un-inhabited and most structures fell to ruin. In the late 1990s, the area was troubled by high unemployment, street crime and drug problems. This documentary explores how the residents of Karosta have coped throughout the years without infrastructure and order, and examines how community organisation K@2 aims to stimulate positive change by means of art, culture, education+D50, and co-operation to give residents hope of a better future.