More than 1,100 people of Latvia participated in “Your Flag” video clip

Although the XII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival has been postponed to the next year, the whole country sang it digitally at the premiere of the video clip for the song "Your Flag" on May 4. The song "Your Flag" was created by Renārs Kaupers and Jānis Aišpurs, and in cooperation with LMT a special video has been made, filmed by Dzintars Dreibergs, director of Kultfilma, and more than 1,100 people from all over Latvia have participated in its creation.

The song "Your Flag" is the result of a collaboration between Jānis Aišpurs and Renārs Kaupers. It was sung by The Sound Poets together with the choir of Riga State Gymnasium No. 2 under the direction of the conductor Edgars Vītols. Although the state of emergency and the restrictions prevented the choir from meeting in presence and recording the song in the studio, every effort and creativity was made to merge the separately recorded voices of the 52 choir members into a single composition.

“The idea was to bring to life a song that will sound not only during the Song and Dance Festival, but also far beyond. When I was writing music and invited Renārs to write words, everything went hand in glove. The longest process was to record the choir - if it usually takes only a couple of hours, this time each of the 52 choir members recorded their own parts of the song at home, and then I was putting all the recordings together in one piece for three days. With the support of LMT, a video clip of the song “Your Flag” has been made under the supervision of its director Dzintars Dreibergs with the participation of people from all over Latvia. And now, looking at the result of our collaboration, I am overwhelmed by a huge avalanche of warm-heartedness. I truly feel the strength and warmth of everyone – the team, supporters and friends of "Your Flag"!” says Jānis Aišpurs.

“When Jānis invited me to take part in writing the lyrics for the School Youth Song and Dance Festival, a kind of mechanism started to function in my mind. Verses formed quickly and intuitively. Right now, when watching, the "Your Flag" video creates a bright and touching feeling to me. I am really glad that people felt the need to participate - with their voice, dance, instruments. The core of the song "I am" is about each of us. We are all flag-bearers,” Renārs Kaupers shares his emotions.

In response to the invitation by the authors of the song "Your Flag" 1,127 people from all over Latvia have submitted their videos, in which they danced, sang and played on various musical instruments. It took the filmmaking team about 15 hours to download all the submitted videos, and the editing director spent 174 hours.

Juris Binde, LMT President, comments on LMT's participation in the project: “The song is the genetic code of the Latvian people. Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Latvia, and the path of independence relates to a song. It accompanied our ancestors and continues to unite us. That is why it would be really unfortunate if the work of the Song and Dance Festival were lost due to the current situation. If we cannot meet in person, with the help of technology we have the opportunity to create a virtual choir and digitally sing at the Song and Dance Festival on the Mežaparks stage together.”

“The Song and Dance Festival gives us a unique sense of unity. Already in January it seemed that the festival is right here, and we were all ready for it with the best of intentions. I wish to maintain this love for singing, dancing and making music and to participate in the Song and Dance Festival together next year, when the song “Your Flag” will be performed on the Mežaparks stage for the first time! The strength of the schoolchildren is great and almighty! And the huge response to the participation in the creation of the video for the song "Your Flag" confirms this once again," emphasizes Agra Bērziņa, Executive Director of the XII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival.

The video clip of the song “Your Flag” experienced its premiere on May 4, the Independence Day of the Republic of Latvia, as a symbolic start of the XII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival. During the premiere, viewers had the opportunity to watch the video, as well as meet the production team of the song and video clip in a digital environment, including musicians Renārs Kaupers and Jānis Aišpurs, Kultfilma director Dzintars Dreibergs, and Agra Bērziņa, Executive Director of the XII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival, and Juris Binde, LMT President. The event was hosted by Māra Sleja, the host of television programs and events. In total, more than 30,000 viewers throughout Latvia watched the live broadcast of the event.

Video of the song “Your Flag” is available on YouTube channel HERE.