Antra Gaile

Liz and her daughter Amy move to Hamelin where a dark secret in Liz's past is uncovered by the restless spirit of the Pied Piper, who seeks out those who have gotten away with a crime, and punishes them by taking away their children.

Emotionally charged story about three women standing against male dominated church preventing them from following their calling to serve God and their communities. Protestan female ministers who wish to serve God, the Church and people as pastors in today’s Latvia can only do that under the wing of foreign churches. Latvia is the only country in the world whose official Lutheran church has banned ordination of women after successfully practicing it for two decades. While some of the women ministers, refusing to accept this, leave the country to build lives as fully-fledged pastors elsewhere in the world, others carry on serving as second-rate assistants or other church workers. However, today there are female theologians who are ready to fight for a future in more equal society thus ending the discrimination based on ‘other sex’ or ‘wrong’ gender. The road towards changes leads through frustrations, confidence and doubts, obedience and rebellion.

They are bonded by their pain, longing, and their current residence – a semi-open prison for women. While staging Anton Chekhov’s play, Three Sisters, together with professional actors, imprisoned women reveal their harrowing life-stories, dreams and the longing for a decent life outside the prison walls.

The documentary explores issues of beauty and acceptance in a culture increasingly saturated with idealised and unattainable ideals of femininity. It is a story about the world of young girls in today's Latvia, based on conversations about girls' attitudes towards the world and their place in it.

1978년 옛 소련의 학생이었던 이에바는 당시 뉴욕에서 UN 소련 파견단으로 일하고 있던 아버지를 만나러 가는 일이 그녀의 삶을 둘로 갈라놓는 일이 될 것이라 예측하지 못했다. 정보원들의 작전에 연루된 이에바는 그녀의 삶을 뒤로 한 채 다시는 어머니를 못 보게 되고 조국 라트비아로 돌아가지도 못하도록 강요 받게 된다. 냉전시대의 어두운 면을 드러내며 영화는 한 이중 첩자의 딸이 40년 전부터 시작된 사건들의 배경에 맞서는 극적인 이야기를 들려준다. 이에바는 자신을 되찾고 그녀가 연루된 작전을 이해하고자 과거로 돌아가 가족의 비밀과 거짓말, 배신을 마주한다.

An intimate portrait of a young couple, Zoryana and Edgars, and their hardships as young, 17-year-old parents, living in the countryside in a remote part of Latvia. The limited job opportunities available in their rural area have left the family mired in poverty. Zoryana becomes a hostage between her two closest people, her mother and Edgars – she must choose between her mother’s advocacy of countryside as the best place for raising a family and life in the city, which would offer more creature comforts and more opportunities to earn a living. Zoryana Horobraya sweeps us along on Zoryana’s journey, as she tries to escape the protective bubble of her mother and define her own family’s happiness and existence.

The film follows a thirty-year-old man’s efforts to introduce radical changes in his own life: to start visiting a therapist and preparing for the demolition of his bragging childhood home. Story chronicles the troubled relationship between Mārtiņš and his mother, just as he is about to tear down his childhood home.

Hardly anyone would have predicted that Žanis Lipke would miraculously become a hero. He was a completely ordinary Latvian blue-collar worker. In order to be able to support his family under wartime conditions, he worked at the German military aviation warehouses and supplemented his income by smuggling at night. This film attempts to answer the question whether Žanis’ courage stems from his adventurous and daring spirit, stubbornness, or a sense of responsibility towards people in need.

The To Be Continued documentary follows lives of five children throughout their first school year. Kārlis's family is firmly rooted in the Latvian countryside. Gleb's grandparents came to Latvia only in the Soviet period. Zane's family are first-generation urban-dwellers. Anastasija's family moved from the city to the countryside. Anete's mum lives and works in England. The film explores how these choices made by adults are reflected in a child's thinking.

Just like in a focus of a lens the northern suburbs of Riga show the opportunities, the contradictions and risks characteristic for each highly developed civilization in its in-between zone of "post" - in this case - post-Soviet, post-industrial, postmodern period. And just like any other coastal area Daugava delta can offer not only fresh fish and wind but also wide horizon and endless sky.

Seven versions of Riga, the city on the Baltic Sea, and its features as seen by outstanding European film directors: Sergei Loznitsa (The Old Jewish Cemetery), Ivars Seleckis (On Ķīpsala), Audrius Stonys (Riga Boats), Jaak Kilmi (Littering Prohibited!), Jon Bang Karlsen (Cats in Riga), Rainer Komers (Daugava Delta), and Bettina Henkel (Theatre Street 6).

'Vadātājs' is an ancient Latvian mythological creature that leads people to Nowhere. As Latvia has been declared the most superstitious country in the EU, it is important to understand – what do we believe in? Three young filmmakers – a director, cinematographer and sound girl – question if Latvia is a lost country and if a Vadātājs has achieved enormous power by leading Latvian society into confusion. A search for a contemporary Vadātājs*, and the understanding of the origins of confusion within people in the 21st century.

The story of the German occupation of Latvia and one of Rīga’s major 20th century historical tragedies, which will be remembered by the people of Rīga forever. French teacher Riva Šefere, lawyer Aleksandrs Bergmanis, music teacher Gabriela Paraša, film historian Valentīna Freimane and historian and founder of the museum “Jews in Latvia” Marģers Vetermanis are just a few of the 30 000 Latvian Jews who were imprisoned in the Riga ghetto. These are eyewitness memories of the holocaust that need to be told.

A documentary revealing society's perceptions of old age.