Representation of poverty in Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian documentary films of the postcommunist period

ENThis article examines the representation of poor families in three documentary films from the Baltic region, produced after the fall of state socialism: Ewa Borzęcka's 13 or Trzynastka/Thirteen (1996, Poland), Marat Sargsyan's Tėvas/Father (2012, Lithuania) and Andris Gauja's Ģimenes lietas/Family Instinct (2010, Latvia). Each film does so by focusing on a family which does not fit the dominant notion of a normal family and instead comes across as a ‘pathological’ family. Our argument is that by foregrounding such a connection the filmmakers play down the state's responsibility for ensuring a decent standard of living for all citizens.