Gints Grūbe

The film tells the story of an artist avoiding a confrontation with power and the artistic and personal consequences of this choice. A powerful historical drama on the true story of Maria Leiko, famous actress who late in her career has to decide between fame and love for her grandchild, between her ideals or the lies of Stalin’s totalitarian regime.

Through six very different families, documentary “The Land” shows the variety of the countryside in the 21st century, the contradictions of countryside living as well as illusions about farmer’s life. There are various reasons why our protagonists chose to live in the homesteads, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Some were done with spending too much time in an office, traffic and living a virtual life, they wanted real, tangible things. Some have moved to countryside by their own choice, but some by predisposition of their families. But what unites them all - they aspire for the stability provided by their own land and house. Together with our protagonists, we will spend one year’s cycle of farmer’s life, that will start with the spring sowing and finish with the autumn harvest and land preparation for the next year.

Almost 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union we can observe the return of rhetoric of a strong person of the totalitarian era. Could this be facilitated by the remains of totalitarian subservience in our heads and minds? The Director of the film Ivo Briedis and journalist Rita Ruduša, both born in the USSR, are going on a journey to explore the phenomenon of “Homo Sovieticus” and to discover whether a human being of the totalitarian mindset has specific geographical boundaries.

Almost 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union we can observe the return of rhetoric of a strong person of the totalitarian era. Could this be facilitated by the remains of totalitarian subservience in our heads and minds? The Director of the film Ivo Briedis and journalist Rita Ruduša, both born in the USSR, are going on a journey to explore the phenomenon of “Homo Sovieticus” and to discover whether a human being of the totalitarian mindset has specific geographical boundaries.

Lost in remotest part of Eastern Europe, Sam is a foreigner, searching for his biological father Lagzdins where a minor road accident leads to a chance meeting with a pig-farmer's daughter, who captures him and makes him a forced laborer on the farm.

It is 1991 in Latvia and nineteen-year-old aspiring cinematographer Jazis’s whole world is thrown into chaos as he is dragged into the people’s peaceful protests against the Soviet Army’s attempted takeover of power in his country.

Līgatne river ferry crossing takes locals, tourists, passers-by and cars from early spring to the fall over river Gauja. It's the last of what were once many such 'rope ferries' across Gauja, but it remains more than an historical oddity and plays an important part in many lives. At just 12 square meters, the wooden ferry nevertheless encompasses an intriguing and sometimes surprising selection of what constitutes 21st-century Latvia.

15 August 1990. Viktor Tsoi, the Soviet Union’s most famous rock star, leader of the band Kino, a symbol of freedom and change, dies in an accident on a Latvian highway. The bus driver who was involved in the tragic accident will bring his body back to Leningrad. A party of mourners – Tsoi’s wife and her new boyfriend, his mistress, his producer, his young son and an obsessed photographer – are part of the trip back. This is going to be a long trip, the perfect occasion for an agonizing unravelling of love, jealousy, ambition, and greed.

Mareks (32) is a young taxi driver in Riga working hard to provide for his son. He is looking forward to spending the weekend with him when an envelope full of cash is stolen from his taxi. With a debt to repay to his short-tempered boss, Mareks needs to earn the money back fast. He drives to the airport and hotels in the hopes of getting some well-paying customers. However, the competition for clients is fierce. Mareks ignores the established rules and upsets the delicate balance between rival taxi companies. As the morning approaches getting the money seems to be the least of Mareks problems.

1948년 2차 대전 이후 리투아니아의 현실을 그리고 있다. 소련군이 진주하면서 공산화에 반대하는 세력은 빨치산 활동을 벌이고 세상은 선악을 판단할 수 없는 안개 속에 휩싸인다. 영화는 일반적인 상식이나 선입견으로 재단하기 어려운 상황들로 인물들을 끌어들인다. 공산주의는 지주를 몰아내고 땅의 소유권을 박탈하지만 이런 조치에 모두가 환호할 수는 없다. 더군다나 그들이 외국인이고 소련군이라면 더 그렇다. 일군의 사람들은 산에 들어가 소련군에 저항하기위해 총을 든다. 하층 계급 출신이기에 아내의 멸시를 감내했던 남자는 소련군의 편도, 빨치산의 편도 될 수 없는 상황에 처한다. 한 청년이 목격하는 사건들을 통해 역사의 아이러니를 그린 작품이다.

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.

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.

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.

In the minds of people, Brussels is no longer a geographical location; it is now a myth-surrounded centre, where decisions are made regarding future life in Europe. The most brilliant minds from the European countries have convened in Brussels: former state leaders, highly-placed officials, advisors, translators and interpreters, as well as family members of all these people. Together, they comprise a sort of separate planet ruled by special laws and using new methods of communication; it is a place of a high concentration of power and all sorts of creature comforts. The anxiety following the 2016 attacks on Brussels has taken everyone by surprise, and the question whether to stay on Planet Brussels now comes up increasingly often. The Brexit news gave completely different kind of concussion to the commonly established center of Europe.

For many years, Saturday market in Skulte has been one of the main events of the week. The roles in the market have been carefully divided among the locals – there’s the pastor of the local parish, the bell-ringer, the pharmacist and the nearby residing sheepman, and it’s been long since it’s not just a customer-vendor relationship among them. Suddenly the owner of the market comes on the scene – he has decided to move it all to a new location, which so far has been known as an accident blackspot.

The only novel written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1958), just like its screen adaptation by Luchino Visconti, is considered a masterpiece. This film tells about the life of Tomasi and his German-Baltic wife Alexandra von Wolff-Stomersee – their unusual love story. The chaos of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and World War II forced Alexandra to leave St. Petersburg and later on – the family's castle in Stāmeriena, Latvia. During the war, in 1943, she fled to her husband in Palermo, where she would live until the day she died.

“Lustrum” was one of the state administration principles of the Roman Empire – a five-year period after which public administrators underwent a purification and repentance process that was usually accompanied by a sacrifice. During this time, the representatives of the previous administration confessed all their sins, repented and genuinely swore allegiance to the new administration. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia has made a decision to open the KGB archives in May 2018. The film is an endeavour to answer the question of whether the lustration that never took place in the 1990s may turn out to be dangerous for the future existence of statehood.

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.

Eva – a beautiful, but meek young woman – arrives at an isolated country house where her husband Robert is lying in a coma recovering from injuries sustained in a mysterious accident in which they lost their apartment. Soon strange things start happening around the house and Eva becomes convinced that Robert is not actually unconscious and is out to harm her.

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.

August 1942: Amidst the unimaginable suffering inflicted during the blockade of Leningrad by the German Wehrmacht, an orchestra director was given an almost impossible task: to stage the premiere of Dimitri Shostakovitch's "Leningrad Symphony". The performance became a symbol of the brief triumph of culture over the barbarism of war.

The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia: Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandr and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get deported to Siberia. In her fight against cold, famine and cruelty, she only gains new strength through the letters she writes to Aleksandr, full of hope for a free Latvia and a better tomorrow.

This investigative documentary explores the methods through which Russia influences the domestic policy of the Baltic States – by dividing the local community, promoting nostalgia for the Soviet Union and dismissing the recovered independence of the Baltic States.

Self-made banker Boriss Osipovs achieves quick success immediately after the collapse of the USSR, but he flees Latvia to avoid arrest for illegal operations. Fifteen years later, his family receives a photograph from Interpol of an elderly gentleman with the same name who resides in a Malaysian mental asylum. Could it be him? Despite the reservations of her family, Osipovs’ daughter, documentary director Ieva Ozoliņa, starts an investigation to find out the truth about the man in the photograph. An emotional story about a man who loses himself in times of change...and the daughter who hopes to find him.

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).

The film is based on true events, it tells the stories of two outstanding personalities of the 20th century – Sergei Eisenstein and Isaiah Berlin, who were both born and spent their childhood in Riga but soon had to leave the city. The film follows the lives of the two characters during the turbulent first half of the 20th century, telling how one of them becomes “the greatest film director of his generation” in the totalitarian Soviet Union, and the other “the greatest thinker of his generation” in liberal Great Britain.

The film is based on true events, it tells the stories of two outstanding personalities of the 20th century – Sergei Eisenstein and Isaiah Berlin, who were both born and spent their childhood in Riga but soon had to leave the city. The film follows the lives of the two characters during the turbulent first half of the 20th century, telling how one of them becomes “the greatest film director of his generation” in the totalitarian Soviet Union, and the other “the greatest thinker of his generation” in liberal Great Britain.

A film about one of Europe's best young theatre directors, Latvian-born Alvis Hermanis, and his distinctive method, marked by a renunciation of classic dramatic material.

A film about one of Europe's best young theatre directors, Latvian-born Alvis Hermanis, and his distinctive method, marked by a renunciation of classic dramatic material.

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.

Composers are regular people – they drive public transport, do sports, pay their bills. And still – they are very different as they are able to comprehend sound. The documentary film Sounds Under the Sun is an inspiring cinematic journey all over the world to meet some of the world-famous contemporary classical music composers. Visiting Alaskan forests, skyscrapers in Tokyo, and war zone in Georgia, the film gives a glimpse of how the composers share their struggle to create music from the moment of sonic creation till the moment when their music is interpreted for public (the film features composers Sir John Tavener from the UK, Leonid Desyatnikov from Russia, Giya Kancheli from Georgia, Dobrinka Tabakova from Bulgaria, John Luther Adams from the USA, and Ko Matsushita from Japan, and one of the world’s best youth choirs, Kamēr..., from Latvia).

Composers are regular people – they drive public transport, do sports, pay their bills. And still – they are very different as they are able to comprehend sound. The documentary film Sounds Under the Sun is an inspiring cinematic journey all over the world to meet some of the world-famous contemporary classical music composers. Visiting Alaskan forests, skyscrapers in Tokyo, and war zone in Georgia, the film gives a glimpse of how the composers share their struggle to create music from the moment of sonic creation till the moment when their music is interpreted for public (the film features composers Sir John Tavener from the UK, Leonid Desyatnikov from Russia, Giya Kancheli from Georgia, Dobrinka Tabakova from Bulgaria, John Luther Adams from the USA, and Ko Matsushita from Japan, and one of the world’s best youth choirs, Kamēr..., from Latvia).

Composers are regular people – they drive public transport, do sports, pay their bills. And still – they are very different as they are able to comprehend sound. The documentary film Sounds Under the Sun is an inspiring cinematic journey all over the world to meet some of the world-famous contemporary classical music composers. Visiting Alaskan forests, skyscrapers in Tokyo, and war zone in Georgia, the film gives a glimpse of how the composers share their struggle to create music from the moment of sonic creation till the moment when their music is interpreted for public (the film features composers Sir John Tavener from the UK, Leonid Desyatnikov from Russia, Giya Kancheli from Georgia, Dobrinka Tabakova from Bulgaria, John Luther Adams from the USA, and Ko Matsushita from Japan, and one of the world’s best youth choirs, Kamēr..., from Latvia).

Since Latvia regained independence in 1991, only a small number of all those who emigrated during the 1940s returned, though many of them had been waiting for the occupation to end. This is about the first generation of Latvian émigrés - those who came back, and those who chose to stay in the West.

Since Latvia regained independence in 1991, only a small number of all those who emigrated during the 1940s returned, though many of them had been waiting for the occupation to end. This is about the first generation of Latvian émigrés - those who came back, and those who chose to stay in the West.