Grestomathy

2025

Documentary film

22 min

When a collector’s life is even richer than his collection, a legend is born. Jānis Greste amassed a vast array of objects throughout his life, hoping they might serve an educational purpose in the future. His resolve was rock-solid. A century ago, he created the first “writers’ corners”, laying the foundation for what is now the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. Thanks to him, we can still see the bar of soap composer Emīls Dārziņš once used, or the wooden board on which poet Rainis wrote. Greste’s name may be familiar to many today, but it deserves to be remembered for generations to come.

Director

Betija Zvejniece

Director of Photography

Dāvids Smiltiņš

Scriptwriter

Rvīns Varde

Set designer

Dace Ignatova

Make up artist and costume designer

Baiba Grīna

Editor

Jēkabs Okonovs

Sound director and

composer

Edvards Broders

Gaffer

Krišs Apšenieks

Optical Animation

Dāvids Smiltiņš

Betija Zvejniece

Narrator

Jānis Grūtups

Cast

Reinis Dzudzilo

Jānis Skanis

Andriāns Beļkovs