The Swamp Wader (1966)

십자군 전쟁이 한창인 13세기 중세 유럽, 발트해 연안의 부유한 무역국이자 페간족의 나라 세미갈리아는 로마 교황의 사생아 맥스의 탐욕으로 정복의 표적이 된다. 맥스의 계략으로 세미갈리아의 왕은 죽임을 당한 후 뛰어난 전략가이자 모험가인 젊은 왕 나메이와 전사들은 나라를 지키기 위해 전쟁을 선포하는데....

제1차 세계대전이 한창이던 때, ‘아르투르스’는 갑작스럽게 집으로 찾아온 독일군이 어머니를 살해하는 모습을 보게 된다. 이에 과거 군에서 15년간 복무했던 베테랑 아버지와 함께 자원입대하여, 스스로 처참한 전장의 한가운데로 뛰어들게 된 ‘아르투르스’. 17살이 채 되지 않은 어린 나이에도 가족과 조국, 그리고 자유를 위해 용기 있게 나선 그는 열악한 상황에서도 용맹하게 적과 맞서싸우며 수 차례 죽을 뻔한 고비를 넘긴다. 하지만 악명 높은 ‘죽음의 섬’에서 독일군과 대치하던 중, ‘아르투르스’는 뛰어난 사격 실력으로 56명의 독일군을 죽인 아버지의 행방이 묘연하다는 소식에 불안함을 느끼는데…

Cezars Kalnins, portrayed by "Latvian Harrison Ford” Uldis Pucitis, installs telephones by day and composes pop songs by night. The puritan Soviet censorship deems Cezars’s lyrics "unsuitable and frivolous” and "unfit for the Soviet youth”. In fact, it can be argued that this assessment matches the opinion of the Soviet cinema authorities in regard to this film as a whole, since "Four White Shirts” was immediately banned and released in cinemas only in 1986. The creative boldness and stubbornness, evident in both Cezars’s bitingly ironic verses and the film’s unconventional narrative structure and fresh, new-wave-inspired mode of expression, turned out to be equally problematic for the hero and for the film itself, as well as for its director whose representation of the actual mechanisms of Soviet censorship ended up too realistic for his own good.

라트비아의 현대사를 개인적 경험에 녹여 설득력 있게 보여주는 애니메이션. 소련 치하에서 공산주의 교육을 받으며 자란 소녀는 누구보다 모범적인 학생이 되려 한다. 학교에서 하라는 대로 잘 따르며 누구보다 앞장서는 학생 대표를 꿈꾼다. TV에선 늘 독일 나치나 서방 제국주의자들에 맞서는 소련군의 활약을 보여주고 소녀 역시 공산주의 전사가 되고자 한다. 소녀에게 이해가 안 되는 것은 할아버지가 공산주의를 좋아하지 않는다는 것이다. 자신이 사랑하는 사람들이 겪은 일들을 알게 되면서 소녀는 차츰 공산주의로부터 멀어지게 된다. 애니메이션 속에 다큐멘터리처럼 실제 있었던 사건의 화면과 실존 인물들이 등장하는 형식을 취한 작품.

Siblings Roby and Raya after the death of their father and being abandoned by their mother, are forced to live with their dominating grandmother in a small country house owned by their family. Things change after the sudden death of their grandmother. The teenagers have to face a tough choice: either to report the accident and submit themselves to a life in an orphanage or hide the dead body and live as if nothing has happened.

One of the iconic Latvian movies. Based on Astrid Lindgren's book 'Emil of Lönneberga'. A story of a little boy, Emil, who, according to others is incredibly naughty, but actually Emil is a lot more kind hearted than all the rest. And everything he does is to help someone. But somehow it all the time turns out like a prank. His family won't agree with any pranks on themselves, so there goes Emil in his father's tool shed, where he's locked up for every prank. Includes the phrase - 'the main idea is to keep your feet warm', which has been adapted in Latvian culture, so it's already a saying.

A business executive lays off hundreds of harbor workers after they go on strike. He and his wife plan to escape the stress by taking an Italian vacation. On the evening before the trip, one of the fired workers, dressed in an orange harbor worker safety jacket, slips into their home. Although his immediate actions reveal a murderous intent, revenge is only the initial step.

Geneva, Switzerland 1935. The first European Basketball Championship is about to take place. Basketball is still an unknown sport in Europe, and the national teams are meeting for the first time. Each wants the honour of being the first champion. Meanwhile in Latvia, coach Baumanis is convinced that he can assemble a team and take it to Geneva. He quickly learns however, that triumph and defeat are also part of the game. Coach Baumanis faces many difficulties, as well as unexpected help from those closest to him.

The code to unlocking this feature documentary is 1949, the year the director was born, and also the year of the return of Soviet repressions to Latvia. The film tells a very personal story against the background of less visited historic events – the death of director’s father due to the KGB repressions, which is closely linked to the devious game Soviet Latvia’s KGB played against Swedish-British-American spy agencies.

Elegantly industrial DIY music video of the band "Jumprava". With each shot more iconic than the next, this art piece presents the lives of workers doing a bit of fuck all.

The film dramatizes November 11, 1919- a crucial date in the battle for Latvian independence. A year after the end of the official hostilities of WWI, a renegade German general and troops remain outside the Latvian capital. Latvian riflemen, most of them inexperienced volunteers, somehow managed to defeat a larger, better-armed force of German and Russian mercenaries.

A feature shot as a documentary, with minimal interference in the surrounding action. The resulting film is a truthful and innocent portrayal of the era with no imitations or conscious borrowings but with its own avant-garde experiments.

Imants Veide is writing a script about con artists and their schemes. Together with his friend Harijs Kuharjonoks he's trying them out for real for greater authenticity, but gets too entangled in real criminal schemes. More and more colorful characters appear on the horizon, but Imant's main adversary on the road to criminal excellency is his Neighbour, a true iron lady with balls bigger than all those involved combined.

The Latvian epic "Lāčplēsis" resounds through time and parallels the struggles of a Latvian soldier and his love before, during and after WWI.

This film is a story about that time in the Baltics, Latvia, and Riga. Young rebels of 1960s – nonconformists, hippies and beatniks – have turned into a generation of well-known writers, poets, musicians, directors, as well as politicians of the new independent Latvia. The ones who were 18, 20, or 25 in 1960s are half a century older today. The protagonists of the film are united by the bohemian gathering place of their youth, a small nameless cafe in the Old Town of Riga, commonly referred to as “Kaza” (The Goat). This place is surrounded by legends, myths and humorous stories.

In this film, set in Latvia in the late 19th century, Edgars, the coachman of Alaine Manor, loves Kristine, the washerwoman's daughter, although he is too hot-headed for Kristine's mother to consider him a good suitor for his daughter. The servant Viskrelis and stable boy Sutka try to tempt Edgars to a life of drinking and a relationship with the barmaid Matilde. Meanwhile, Kristine is courted by the rich land owner, Akmentins.

A group of men go under-ice fishing, but find themselves trapped on a piece of ice, that has broken off. As they are drifting through the sea, the tension between them rises.

During World War II three best friends are mobilized into the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion. Years later their fates continue to intertwine, as memories of war loom in back of their minds.

Documentary about the ancient rites still practiced in rural Latvia.