Dāvids Smiltiņš

An insecure millennial woman pursues her dream whilst learning how to adult. While being preoccupied with life tasks at hand she can barely handle and also severe depression, main character of this film Marta (30) keeps dreaming about making films, drawn to the healing power of storytelling, but not having the courage to act these dreams out; sometimes she is too scared to even pick up the phone. Marta’s life seems to sway both in comic and tragic directions: it’s sometimes a mix of ultimate freedom, sex, drugs, friendship, laughter, alcohol, lots of alcohol, music, honesty and love, and sometimes the reality Marta avoids to face becomes so brutal she can’t take it anymore. Through the course of the film Marta learns there is an unavoidable question that at some point becomes inevitable for almost every filmmaker: if you really want to direct films, can you first direct yourself out of depression?

Instead of Einars Pelšs' eighth poetry book, he publishes his collected works, but the buyer of the book receives an ordinary brick. He translates the authors of the Russian Golden Age and publishes them under his own name, challenging the boundaries of literature. Is a poet who makes fun of art unique or exactly what we expect from contemporary authors? Einarrative is an extraordinary story that portrays the narrative of the life of Einārs Pelšs. In the film, this narrative is an experience of contrasting changes both in its visual style and in Einars’ poetic works and personality, allowing him to get involved in the depiction of the narrative himself, making the film as Einārs Pelšs' audiovisual collected works.

Instead of Einars Pelšs' eighth poetry book, he publishes his collected works, but the buyer of the book receives an ordinary brick. He translates the authors of the Russian Golden Age and publishes them under his own name, challenging the boundaries of literature. Is a poet who makes fun of art unique or exactly what we expect from contemporary authors? Einarrative is an extraordinary story that portrays the narrative of the life of Einārs Pelšs. In the film, this narrative is an experience of contrasting changes both in its visual style and in Einars’ poetic works and personality, allowing him to get involved in the depiction of the narrative himself, making the film as Einārs Pelšs' audiovisual collected works.

When you first meet Kaspars Putriņš, you get the impression that this person lives outside of time. Friends call him a Renaissance man. Kaspars builds medieval musical instruments which are very rare in Europe, works as a sound director, forms part of the alternative music group “Amoral Psychosis”, and studies developments in nature and space. Not only Kaspars’s professional activity, but also his very way of life raises the question – does the age create a man, or does a man create his age?

New performers have recently moved into the 130-year-old building of the Riga Circus. Having built a stage in the stables, actors Ance, Āris, Klāvs, Reinis and the other members of the theatre company Kvadrifrons are reinvigorating and preserving the tradition of live art in the circus. The name of the group is an acronym in Latvian that conveys their ethos: they are an organisation that can chill with their friends, have bursts of amazing creativity, and whose members are far from unintelligent. And all the while, the strong smell of elephants wafts through the building. Here and there, the life of the previous inhabitants makes itself known. Soon shamanistic rituals alternate with clowning around, fortune-telling with illusion juggling, stagecraft with personal choices. Then suddenly, out of Nothing… emerges Theatre.

Jusis is a young boy who's obsessed with everything to do with samurais. It's his birthday, and the neighborhood kids tell him that somebody's defecated on his trampoline.

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

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

There is a moment in the lives of emperors, which follows pride in the boundless extension of the territories we have conquered, and the melancholy and relief of knowing we shall soon give up any thought of knowing and understanding them.

Documentary feature about the famous Latvian poet and translator Uldis Bērziņš. The film tells about the everyday life of the poet, his work, his imprisoned son, his family and his best friend, a KGB agent. Includes excerpts of the newest poetry book of the poet, “Idylls“.

The inhabitants of the Benedictine Monastery in Lithuania have preserved the ancient traditional lifestyle of monks that requires a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. Their daily life filled with silence and rituals are captured in this short film.

During the Soviet times, the Aviation Institute in Riga was where our fathers came to study. When the Soviet Union collapsed, they became the first black inhabitants of Latvia. We are their children - the first generation of dark-skinned Latvians. We are trying to figure out how our lives differ from those of our fathers, and what distinguishes or unites us with the rest of the Latvian society. What does it mean - to be different, and how does it affect our lives?