Artis Dukaļskis

Direct and meticulous observation of interpersonal relations is a classic subject in documentary films. In this film the title of which alludes to “Hamlet”, we will observe the birth of compassion in people. Compassion is something that has to be dealt with in very rigorous terms, something that needs to be stripped of the layers of clichés that this word has amassed over the years. Is it always a true feeling or just an imitation? How does a deep compassion spring forth? Who are the true “masters of compassion” and what are they like?

Andrejs, a meticulous outdoor adventure guide, takes a film crew to a wild river valley for a vegetarian sausage commercial shoot. The enterprise suffers an unexpected setback as the crew goes missing. Little they know that in autumn the valley unleashes a strange, wondrous phenomenon whose reckless power does not spare even the locals. Finding the missing clients is no child’s play because he who seeks to find will lose himself.

The full-length documentary is a story about painter Biruta Delle, who is of the so-called “Uncensored” generation in Latvian art. It is a story of loneliness and nonconformism, and great talent that dramatically eats up everything else in a her life... but Biruta Delle continues to paint, becoming increasingly isolated from society.

Mother takes her eight-year-old daughter Antonia to a children’s creativity camp. Antonia is not happy about having to spend time under close adult supervision. On their way, she spots a sign saying ”The Robots Have Escaped!” The sign unleashes Antonia’s imagination and grows into a fantasy of how exciting her stay in the camp might turn out to be. Of course, Antonia’s and the robots’ paths intersect at the camp, where they intend to steal children’s dreams during their afternoon nap to convert them into ingenious commercials. Thriller-like events unfold. Thanks to Antonia’s inquisitive and rebellious nature and with her best friend and favourite toy Yeti by her side, the robots’ intention is averted.

Vilis is a 6 year old boy who lives between two time zones. In the morning he goes to a preschool in Riga, Latvia where he sings, draws, learns to read and plays. In the afternoon he is already a first grader, logging in the Zoom class in a New York public school. While most of the world is worried that school closures and remote learning during the pandemic has left kids without education, the pandemic has given Vilis a chance to study in two schools at once. Vilis’ mom has been documenting these weird times on her phone. The experience in both schools will be challenged when Vilis starts the first grade this fall for the second time in his hometown.

Dagnis suffered in a serious accident that took place almost 30 years ago. He's had to learn to live with his disability and also his insomnia and loneliness, as he feels people are afraid of him. Now Dagnis has other worries: he's got a video camera in his hands for the first time of his life, and he has to make a film. He walks around the village of Vaidava, films and comments on everything he sees and hears. We have the opportunity to look at the life of a small Latvian village through Dagnis’s eyes. What does Dagnis think about the environment around him, the society and its ability to accept others?

After their family house burns down, a young woman finds her brother in a state of excruciating guilt. She tries to come to terms with things, whereas he still lives under the authoritative shadow of their father. Without uttering a word, the two share this burden and seek a new path that will lead them away from the past.

An observational reflection on the body and existing in one’s social as well as physical “skin”. “To break out of their traumas and the ingrained ideas of normality and the fictional ideal of femininity, and to make their bodies truly their own – this is the goal of two young women who use their bodies as a tool of protest and a work of art,” writes the filmmaker.

An ageing theatre star struggles with her mental condition and pending diagnosis, while preparing for a role. With the premiere approaching, she balances between acceptance and self denial, while losing grip on reality.

Dinārs is a Latvian schlager singer popular with the ladies and known for his big cat mane. The eponymous film follows his path over a turbulent season of work.

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.

What does it mean for a woman to take up the role of mother? The film follows four Latvian women during different stages of pregnancy. An ambitious dancer has to put her career on hold while being pregnant. A housewife expects her second child and fears postpartum depression recurring. An urban party girl becomes pregnant, decides to get married and move to the countryside to build a new home from scratch. A young entrepreneur and ex-punk welcomes her first child yet is haunted by the traumatic events from her past. All four women offer a unique insider point of view of pregnancy, as part of the footage is shot by the protagonists themselves. They go through a mix of emotions, highlighting that pregnancy, contrary to mainstream representation, is not only about the child - it is about the mother, too.

The film documents the production of Anna Ķirse’s contemporary opera in the forests of Finland.

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.

Review of the 35 year long road into the Latvian punk rock legends and pioneers "Inokentijs Marpls" band members. The way of life and ideology change between 1985 and 2020.

In a completely typical building, in a typical apartment, in a completely typical kid's room there stands a not at all typical wardrobe. Behind its doors, behind the dresses and blouses, the shirts and trousers that obediently live on the hangers, lives a secret darkness of the imagination from which some interesting characters appear and begin to live in the children's room. You only need to knock to see how the dust fairies start to play with others in the room - even starting to play the piano! This is a carefree story about the world which goes up! and down!

Born in 1988, Kristaps finally wants to find out who is his real father. Family women do not tell if it is Guntis or Gvido. Kristaps goes to search for his father, acting as the boom operator of the documentary.

Director Aija Bley's "Brīva Vieta - T17" captures the unique testimony of the modern era of Riga - the life of "antisquoters". The film tells about the daily life and dreams of the youth community and a mute fish, the so-called commune T17. The community lives in a non-landscaped building, so its occupation is a real challenge. The house is located under the paspārns of the association " Free Riga ", whose movement is based on a responsible attitude towards nature and the careful use of resources. Here, the community is motivated by the conviction that so few resources in everyday life should be consumed in the urban environment. The film follows the everyday life of the community members, who use their lifestyle to use the resources of nature, material, culture and time.

Vārdotājas (Wordsmiths) traces the recent rise of women's stand-up comedy in Latvia, but it is by no means just for laughs. Feelings of discomfort, shame, shock, are just some of the subjects tackled.

CIA agents Palmer and Gagano are tasked with the perilous mission of destroying “The Soviet Union!" As they enter the system using a VR simulation, their mission quickly turns into a delirious trap, far more complex than expected, as the fabric of reality starts unraveling around them. A cornucopia of stylistic influences, virtuosic cinematic techniques, and set design (ranging from stop-motion animation to stylized live-action), Llanso’s latest blends inter-dimensional intrigue, spy-fi, kung-fu, and Philip K. Dick-esque mind-melting weirdness to achieve truly unclassifiable results.

CIA agents Palmer and Gagano are tasked with the perilous mission of destroying “The Soviet Union!" As they enter the system using a VR simulation, their mission quickly turns into a delirious trap, far more complex than expected, as the fabric of reality starts unraveling around them. A cornucopia of stylistic influences, virtuosic cinematic techniques, and set design (ranging from stop-motion animation to stylized live-action), Llanso’s latest blends inter-dimensional intrigue, spy-fi, kung-fu, and Philip K. Dick-esque mind-melting weirdness to achieve truly unclassifiable results.

Apatity, a far-north industrial town in Russia, first came into being as a USSR concentration camp. Although its environment is at the brink of ecological disaster, the people here still believe in the state’s promise of immortality that can be gained through sacrificial service to the fatherland. This is how the elite in a totalitarian state buy a person’s will, strength, talent and, indeed, life, turning the human being into another resource that is as faceless as a grey lump of ore. ‘I cannot fight big corporations or state structures with a film. But I hope that there is someone in the darkness of the cinema whose heart will get a bit warmer after seeing it,’ says the director. The larger part of the film was shot during the polar night.

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.

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.

Imanta allows others to look into her way of life. Her grandparents emigrated from Latvia during World War II. Parents grew up and met in the United States, but Imanta have closed the circle of family by returning to her grandparents homeland. How was this road? The documentary «Return» allows you to look behind the scenes of a personal story - how to move to Latvia if you have lived abroad so far? Imanta herself tells her story through video and photo documentation.

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I had my friends, but now they're dead.” When Anna Zaķis was young, she experienced the upswing of social networks. Once active cultural life has slowed down but the desire for real conversations is still there. She will fight to the end... for a chance to talk with someone.

During Latvia’s centennial year, 15 filmmakers created each his own film portrait of a person living in Latvia on the background of centenary events. Documentary 2018 combines these stories into a unique poetic vision based on analogy with the documentary 235 000 000, a classic of the Riga school of poetic documentary cinema. This film is an attempt to make sure whether the codes of the poetic cinema are still relevant and accessible today.

“Collective.Me” is an ironic comedy about the concept of lies and loss of faith. In a small village, a paper mill is expecting a visit from the Ministry. While the director and his team is looking for creative tools to subvert official’s attention, something much more important slips by unnoticed.

This film looks at the Brukna commune which helps addicts recover with hard work and lots of prayer. They spend their days restoring a church and offer a look at their past lives, which they’ve escaped for a moment.

“One Of Us” follows Latvia-born athletes – wrestler Anastasija Grigorjeva, veteran gymnast Igors Vihrovs, and up-and-coming figure skater Deniss Vasiļjevs. Being of non-Latvian ethnicity, they are sometimes treated as ‘others’ by native Latvians, who welcome them into their ranks only when they’ve shown astonishing results.

A person’s face and eyes preserve experience better than any document or recorded memoir. Particularly if a person has experienced as much as the well-known dissident Lidija Lasmane-Doroņina. Actually, she does not even think of herself as a dissident. She received her three terms in prisons and labour camps – fourteen years in all – as punishment not for underground struggle but for daring to remain true to her principles, convictions and faith. The ideals Lidija obtained as a child – the idyllic image of Latvia as an independent country, strong family values and faith in God as a moral measuring stick for any action. Her eyes are bright even today, at the age of 91, and they look at this world full of life.

Accomplished European scenographer and educator Andris Freibergs paints a self-portrait by shaping the stage for an imaginary production titled “Andris Freibergs”. He transforms himself into a space that contains close to eighty years worth of stunning success, tragic loss, birth and death. It is an attempt to create the perfect empty space – one that would simultaneously encompass everything and nothing, the beginning and the end.

This film represents a figurative view on the developments of contemporary art in Latvian modern environment by following the path of a piece of art to the audience for a certain period of time and by finding a unified system of characters in the process. One piece of art is advancing the story on the background of a previous piece, the next one is continuing it in another direction just like in a movie two shots alongside create the third one and result in another modern art object – film.

A dreamer by nature, Quanqi Zhu decides to set up a unique installation at the hillside of Sacred Songshan mountain in China. Despite the language barrier, his best companion is Latvian architect Austris Mailitis. As the building of the object begins, the creators themselves have to levitate between cultural differences, conventions and personal ambitions.

Kārlis Bardelis and Gints Barkovskis (Latvia), have a plan to row from Luderitz, Namibia, to Rio das Ostras, Brazil. They have no ocean rowing experience, they've only got a second-hand rowboat and a big dream.

The three speakers represent two of the dialects, with the most common one - the middle dialect spoken in Riga and central parts of Latvia - not featured in the film. In intimate surroundings, a farmer, a schoolteacher, and a herder of ostriches talk about perceived differences between Latvian speakers, and about language policy and their lives.

When a chicken is kidnapped by two thieves, a lively adventure full of humor and with a surprising twist begin.

Latvia is home to almost one fifth of the world’s population of the lesser spotted eagle, yet their number is endangered. Uģis Bergmanis is one of Latvia’s best-known ornithologists, and he does his best to save the eagles in Latvia. He also has another passion – he hunts wolves. He can sit for hours in freezing temperatures until meeting his prey eye to eye. There are many stories in this man. And some of them are going to be told.

For two months, the third-grade students at Cēsis’ New Primary School have been plan-ning and organizing their own graduation ceremony. Throughout this process, the teach-ers are only there to help, trusting in the children’s wisdom, responsibility and ability to organize themselves, make decisions and follow through. Preparations for the celebration involve all the school subjects, turning the school into a place of exciting discovery, where children learn by doing things that are important to them. They enthusiastically live life in the here and now, in all its difficulties and joy.

The Samtskhe-Javakheti region in southern Georgia, which has a mostly Armenian population, suffers under silent ethnic tensions caused by a historical burden. It is a unique place to study the role of the human factor in ethnic conflicts through the eyes of a Georgian photographer and the ears of a Latvian film director.

Budding lawyer Vik is disappointed in himself. He tries to change and please everyone until he looses sight of himself. Vik meets the mysterious Mirror Man who offers to help him regain his self-esteem and become the kind of person Vik dreams of becoming. Vik agrees, but the Mirror Man at times leaves Vik in situations where he surprises others not just by his new-found self-confidence, but also by insolence that causes a rift with his closest friends. Soon the Mirror Men in Vik’s life are too many to control, and when he tries to back away – it’s too late. Vik has alienated himself from his own essence and become one of them – a nameless, faceless human devoid of personality.

Viktors is an entrepreneur with a unique offer – he has built a bar, bakery, spa, hotel and an auto-shop in a former “sovkhoz” cafeteria in the village of Lone. Viktors understands life, and that his words carry weight – almost 500 village inhabitants are now employed. Lone is a lively place both day and night, full of youths and many other businesses. Viktors is very proud.

When the world was younger, ships, explorers and merchants carried not only foreign goods, but also stories. Those stories drew a map of the world and taught people that there are broader horizons beyond their own fences. Baltic amber has always been valued as the Gold of the North, so two young Latvians set out on the ancient amber trade route from the Baltic coast to the south of India to learn how this Stone of the Sun has changed the world we live in.

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.

This creative documentary tells the story of women in art – what she has to sacrifice in her personal life and what choices have to be made in order to gain success in her career. The film explores life of artist, by following theatre director’s Mara Kimele's fighting relationships with her despotic grandmother Anna Lacis (widely known as Asya, whose life is closely tied to the names of Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brech), cynical son Peteris (who is played by an actor) and work while she stages F. Dostoevsky's “Crime and Punishment”. Every character of film is an act. But does that make them any less real? And what is real in the world of art? Apart from its human character's, the film also has an animated one – the horse, who came into life through the first letter Mara wrote to her grand mother and has been following her ever since.

After the fall of the Soviet Union large numbers of immigrants from the East stayed in Latvia for good, Latvians simply call them “Russians”. Over 20 years of independence later mutual suspicion and bias are still there in the most part of the local community. Therefore, a Latvian director involves an independent Russian speaking Norwegian colleague in helping him understand Latvian “Russians” and coming up with an integration plan. But soon enough it becomes clear that only Latvians themselves can manage the challenge. And so begins director’s journey away from the division “us / them”.

A film documenting contemporary Latvian reality along the banks of the river Gauja while channelling one of the first Latvian sound documentary films, Gauja (1934). “Along with producers Sandijs Semjonovs and Gundars Rēders and editor Atis Klimovičs, we witnessed incidents and events along the banks of the river some 80 years later. We captured them along with the views of folks on this river in a documentally poetic style reflecting the reality in Latvia,” explains director Mārtiņš Grauds.

The story of three different cultures meeting together in the realm of ethno-jazz music. Georgian ethno-jazz trio The Shin, the Moldavian band Trigon, Owl’s Ethnographic Orchestra and Intars Busulis. Their breath-taking journey into the souls of Georgian, Latvian and Moldavian folk music, their creation of contemporary music akin to cutting shiny new gemstones from rough old folklore treasures, opening hearts and removing borders between nations and languages. In their travels they become brothers and sisters in music. The scenery and melodies, voices and rhythms on the road they take may change. Yet in the end it turns out to be the way home for them all. The Way Home.