Dita Gruze

Movies

Wisdom Gone Wild
Additional Editor
Ever since the onset of her dementia, reality, dream and nightmare have become intertwined for Rose, making her something like a maverick time traveler. Her filmmaker daughter Rea Tajiri is also her caregiver. In this fond portrait, she visualizes Rose’s spiritual, philosophical and sometimes surprisingly specific stories in the order they come: a non-linear sequence illustrated by her own footage shot over many years, accompanied by snatches of conversations and images from the family archive. Rose’s eventful journey through time is rich with memories and sensitively accompanied by a fitting soundtrack.
Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Union
Editor
Reviewing the pursuit of democracy within the U.S. on the anniversary of the 2021 Capitol riot.
Valiant!
Writer
Feature documentary on the antics of North American Latvian youth in the 1980s, during the last years of the Cold War – from chaining themselves to the Russian Embassy, to organizing an entire cruise ship treading the Soviet border in the Baltic Sea – generating headlines when few could even find Latvia on a map. The main hero is Juris Bļodnieks’ old Chrysler Valiant “Slant Six” that has been in storage for 25 years: painted with anti-Soviet slogans such as “Nyet, nyet Soviet!” and “Go(rbachev) to hell!”. A generation of US Latvians remembers the car appearing in demonstrations across North America. Day to day, while driving around his home state of New Jersey, Juris used the car to further the seemingly hopeless task – to free an illegally occupied Latvia.
Valiant!
Editor
Feature documentary on the antics of North American Latvian youth in the 1980s, during the last years of the Cold War – from chaining themselves to the Russian Embassy, to organizing an entire cruise ship treading the Soviet border in the Baltic Sea – generating headlines when few could even find Latvia on a map. The main hero is Juris Bļodnieks’ old Chrysler Valiant “Slant Six” that has been in storage for 25 years: painted with anti-Soviet slogans such as “Nyet, nyet Soviet!” and “Go(rbachev) to hell!”. A generation of US Latvians remembers the car appearing in demonstrations across North America. Day to day, while driving around his home state of New Jersey, Juris used the car to further the seemingly hopeless task – to free an illegally occupied Latvia.
A to B Rollerski
Co-Producer
A documentary film revealing the incredible and unique journey of the Latvia-born adventurer and Olympic biathlete Raimonds Dombrovskis back in 1988 as he roller-skis 4,200 miles (6,759 km) from Inuvik (The Arctic, Canada) to Baja (Mexico) in 90 days. He uses his rollerski trip as a way to protest against the Soviet regime and to explain to everyone he meets that somewhere on the map there is a small nation that has its own language and craves freedom.
A to B Rollerski
Editor
A documentary film revealing the incredible and unique journey of the Latvia-born adventurer and Olympic biathlete Raimonds Dombrovskis back in 1988 as he roller-skis 4,200 miles (6,759 km) from Inuvik (The Arctic, Canada) to Baja (Mexico) in 90 days. He uses his rollerski trip as a way to protest against the Soviet regime and to explain to everyone he meets that somewhere on the map there is a small nation that has its own language and craves freedom.
The Happy Sad
Co-Producer
Two young couples in New York-one black and gay, one white and heterosexual-find their lives intertwined as they create new relationship norms, explore sexual identity, and redefine monogamy.
Topo Gigio Is Dead
Assistant Camera
Two Chileans, Daniela and Tomas, meet in Philadelphia. Daniela is the daughter of a former political prisoner, tortured during Pinochet's dictatorship. Tomas is the son of the physician that tortured her father. Both have been forced to deal with a past that doesn't belong to them, and together they will find a space to question their roles and their heritage.