Former Latvian minister and film director Rihards Pīks dies

Former Latvian culture and foreign minister and film director Rihards Pīks has died at the age of 84, LSM reported on Monday, citing his wife, Sarmīte Pīka.

“Today, a man with an incredibly rich biography and range of activities has completed his earthly journey: a cinematographer, film director, the first director elected by the film studio collective, culture minister, foreign minister, member of the Saeima and European Parliament, and, in the family, a husband, father and grandfather,” Pīka wrote on Facebook.

Pīks was born in Riga on December 31, 1941. In the 1970s, he graduated from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography as a cinematographer and completed two-year higher courses for screenwriters and directors as a film director.

At Riga Film Studio, Pīks worked as a cinematographer, film director and producer. In 1987, he was elected director of the studio and held the position for three years. He directed such well-known films of the 1980s as If There Were No This Guy… and The Double.

From 1991 to 1993, Pīks founded and headed the National Film Centre and founded and chaired the international association Baltic Films. From 1993 to 1995, he helped establish the Film Department at the Academy of Culture.

After becoming involved in the Singing Revolution movement, Pīks was included in a list of intellectuals to be isolated in 1989. Following the restoration of independence, he entered politics.

He served as Latvia’s culture minister from 1996 to 1997. In 2004, he became foreign minister and was elected to the European Parliament, where he served until 2009.

After his European Parliament mandate ended, Pīks continued his professional and academic work in film. In 2014, he returned to politics, joining the For Latvia’s Development party and standing in the elections to the 12th and 13th Saeimas.