Valentīna Freimane

Valentīna Freimane (1922-2018, born Lēvenšteina, Riga) is a Latvian theatre and film critic and scholar, holding a PhD in art history. Valentīna Freimane lost most of her family to the Holocaust but managed to save her own life finding refuge with acquaintances. She grew up travelling between Paris, Berlin and Riga, and was early on in her life exposed to several languages. Freimane graduated from the Department of History of the University of Latvia in 1949, and did her residency at the Theatre Institute of Moscow (1971) where in 1992 she was awarded her Ph. D. Valentīna Freimane is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI, she  received the Riga Film Museum prize for lifelong contribution to film education in Latvia in 1994. Her contribution to film and art criticism in Latvia is deemed unparalleled, and her academic papers and reviews are often quoted and referred to by notable figures in Latvian culture and film industry. Freimane's memoir Farewell to Atlantis (Ardievu, Atlantīda!, 2010) has been published in Germany as Adieu, Atlantis (by Wallstein Verlag, translated by Matthias Knoll). The captivating and epic story of her life was adopted for opera (music by Arturs Maskats and libretto by Liāna Langa) and premièred in 2014, in the National Opera, and was performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Freimane's papers are usually devoted to cinematographic art, paying close attention to theoretical issues, historical and national phenomena and important figures in film and theatre arts.

Antigones likums  [The Antigone's Law]. Rīga: biedrība theroom, 2024.

Ardievu, Atlantīda! Publisher: Rīga : Atēna, 2010.

Personības un parādības : ārzemju teātri un kino [Personalities and Phenomena: foreign theatres and cinemas]. Rīga: Liesma, 1986

Liepājas teatra 50 gadi [50 Years of Liepāja Theatre]. Rīga : Latvijas valsts izdevniecība, 1958.

Viktors Freibergs, In memoriam. Valentīna Freimane // Online magazine Punctum, 2018 [LV]

Ich habe immer gewusst, dass ich am leben bleibe!// Bundesunmittelbare Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts. Panel discussion with Valentīna Freimane, 2014. [DE]

Valentīna Freimane par operu «Valentīna»: Ir man, protams, arī iebildumi // LSM. Interview with Valentīna Freimane about the opera Valentīna, 2015 [LV]

Die Lebensgeschichte einer Jüdin als Oper // Die Welt. Review of Valentina, the opera, 2015

A.J. Goldmann, Valentina. // Opera News. 2015

Valentina Freimane, Adieu, Atlantis // Wallstein Verlag, Review of Adieu, Atlantis [DE]

Dr. Heike Talkenberger, Adieu, Atlantis, review // Damals [DE]

2015, the 3rd best biographic novel of the year in the prestige German history magazine Damals competition

1994, Riga Film Museum prize for lifelong contribution to film education in Latvia