Sacrificial Lamb (Upurjērs), dir. Uģis Olte, 17′, Latvia, 2023
Ildze yearns to find peace and fulfilment by moving from the city to the countryside. However, her thoughts are consumed by the illness of her child, her estrangement from her husband and his absence. In the meantime, Ildze’s grief is enveloped by nature’s promise of comfort, which never arrives. She tries to understand where to find the beginning of the cycle of sacrifice and where to find its end. And who is her victim, or is it herself?
Scriptwriter Lāsma Olte
Cinematographer Ansis Landorfs
Editor Uģis Olte
Executive Producer Zane Šipkevica
Sound Director Artis Lūsis
Production Designer Jānis Kalniņš
Costume Designer Jurate Silakaktiņa
Make-up Artist Līva Drešere
Main Cast Anta Aizupe, Toms Auniņš, Artis Zālītis
Producer Paula Jansone
Production Company VFS FILMS
Contacts
Paula Jansone
vfs@vfs.lv
Miru Falls in Love (Mirū iemīlas), dir. Ieva Norvele, 15′, Latvia, 2023
A sprint on premiere day. “Look! This is all yours. It’s all yours. Just run. Hold out your hand, Miru. Take it! Run faster!” a voice in her head whispers to start the day. The assistant director’s day is destined to unfold in a series of unfortunate and unlucky episodes: buying metal hair curlers, taking her three-year-old daughter to her grandmother’s, taking an actress who is having panic attacks to an interview. And then Kaspics, one of the main actors in the performance, disappears. Miru has nothing left — a day to live, a premiere to save.
Scriptwriter Ieva Norvele
Cinematographer Laura Aliukonytė
Production Designers Laura Dišlere, Zanda Landrāte-Bedrīte
Costume Designer Jurate Silakaktiņa
Make-up Artist Ksenija Halčenko
Sound Director Ernests Ansons
Editor Sandra Alksne
Main Cast Elīna Hanzena, Mārtiņš Liepa, Žanete Arlēna Zvīgule, Elita Kļaviņa, Aiva Birbele, Andris Freidenfelds
Producer Aija Bērziņa
Production Company TASSE FILM
Contacts
Aija Bērziņa
aija@tasse.lv
tasse.lv
Blank Page Syndrome (Baltās lapas bieds), dir. Jānis Ābele, Toms Šķēle, Latvia
We see the factory of books – a printing house. Hundreds of books are being printed every hour, thousands of pages every minute. The voice of a woman writer is struggling with a white page in front of her. She ironically contemplates on the subject of writing itself. She shares her creative struggles in a voice-over essay that is juxtaposed with the visual journey of a book being printed.
Scriptwriter Linda Rudene
Editor Andris Grants
Sound Director Julius Grigelionis
Voice Jana Čivžele
Producer Jānis Ābele
Production Company Chaland Films
Supported by
State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Jelgavas Tipogrāfija
Contacts
Jānis Ābele
janis.abele@kinozeme.lv
Confessions of My Childhood Body (Mana bērnības ķermeņa atzīšanās), dir. Emīlija Karetņikova, 28′, Latvia, 2023
An insecure 17-year-old, Nika goes to a summer camp and spends the best moments of her youth there. One of the camp leaders is friendly towards her. But this seemingly innocent friendship is only a cover for criminal intentions.
Scriptwriters Emīlija Karetņikova, Līga Gaisa
Set Designers Ildze Jurkovska, Marianna Lapiņa
Editors Rūta Ronja Pakalne, Emīlija Karetņikova
Composer Spāre Vītola
Sound Director Pēteris Pāss
Main Cast Agate Marija Bukša, Kārlis Freimanis
Producers Antra Gaile, Līva Vernere, Līga Gaisa
Production Companies Air Productions, Latvian Academy of Culture
Supported by State Culture Capital Foundation, DEPO
Contacts
Antra Gaile
antra.gaile@airporductions.lv
Debris (Gruzis), dir. Ilze Ance Kazaka, 4′, Latvia, 2023
The protagonist’s attempts to destroy an obstacle turn into a realization that the obstacle is a part of them.
Scriptwriter Ilze Ance Kazaka
Sound Director Ģirts Bišs
Producer Ilze Ance Kazaka
Production Company Art Academy of Latvia
Freeride in C (Brīvais nobrauciens), rež. Edmunds Jansons, 11′, Latvia, 2024
The white tranquility of mountains is disturbed by colorful winter sports enthusiasts who enjoy downhill skiing. The short film is an audiovisual experience, an abstract dance of freedom that reflects the joy and fragility of being.
Art Design, Script, Editing Edmunds Jansons
Animation Edmunds Jansons, Mārtiņš Dūmiņš
Assistant Animators Kristīne Zvirbule, Sofija Jansone, Vidaga Grīnberga
Director’s Assistant Linda Stūre
Sound Director Ģirts Bišs
Production Manager Agne Skane
Producer Sabīne Andersone
Production Company Atom Art
Sales and distribution
Sabīne Andersone
+371 29389694
sabine@atomart.lv
Festivals and screenings
Anda Briede
+371 26107764
anda@atomart.lv
In the End (Beigu beigas), dir. Linda Stūre, 5′, Latvia, 2023
In the deep countryside of Latgale, relatives and neighbours from near and far come together to celebrate the last important ritual in a person’s life. A series of events and details reveals a picture in which two different eras overlap.
Scriptwriter, Animator, Editor Linda Stūre
Animator Liāna Mihailova
Assistant Animators Vidaga Grīnberga, Līva Piterāne, Kristīne Zvirbule
Sound Director Ģirts Bišs
Supervisor Edmunds Jansons
Production Manager Agne Skane
Producer Sabīne Andersone
Production Company Atom Art
Supported by
State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia
Contacts
Sabīne Andersone
+371 2911 8913
sabine@atomart.lv
atomart.lv
Kafka in Love (Iemīlējies Kafka), dir. Zane Oborenko, 10’, Latvia
Franz and Milena – between them a distance, her husband and loads of letters – it is love that fills Kafka’s life with light and hope and at the same time illuminates the fears and darkness in him. The animated short “Kafka. In Love” is based on Kafka’s Letters to Milena. It explores less known, but nonetheless extraordinary and puzzling aspects of Kafka’s personality.
Scriptwriter Zane Oborenko
Animator Zane Oborenko
Production Designer Zane Oborenko
Editor Jūlija Vinten
Sound Director Ģirts Bišs
Co-oproducer: Alena Vandasová, Martin Vandas (MAUR film, www.maurfilm.com)
Producer Sabīne Andersone
Production Company Atom Art
Supported by
National Film Centre of Latvia
Czech Film Fund
Contacts
Sabine Andersone
+371 29118913
sabine@atomart.lv
atomart.lv
Ksenia (Ksenija), dir. Renāte Saulīte, 20′, Latvia, 2023
Twenty-one-year young Ksenia lives dynamic daily life filled with multiple activities. But Ksenia has an overpowering sword hanging above her head which is linked to her past. Right now, she is facing imprisonment for at least 5 years in a maximum-security prison. Why is her life throwing her all these twists? Is she just bravely confronting the future or is she subconsciously running away from it?
Scriptwriter Renāte Saulīte
Camera Aivars Šaicāns
Sound Director Ernests Ansons
Editor Jēkabs Okonovs
Producers Katrīna Karple, Alise Ģelze
Production Companies White Picture, Latvian Academy of Culture
Contacts
Alise Ģelze
+371 2615 6356
info@white-picture.lv
white-picture.lv
Limo, dir. Tīna Zariņa, 14′, Latvia, 2023
A late evening in the near future. On the smog-covered streets of Riga, limousine driver Arthur is starting his shift — he’s weary of his routine, and wary of the whims of the car’s artificial intelligence technology. He tells unfunny jokes and stories and kills time just to avoid making MO jealous. Tonight, a woman, whose presence causes Arthur’s good intentions to fail, calls for the limousine.
What if the dystopian setting of Blade Runner (1982) had been relocated to Riga, but the well-known character of the taxi driver would be driving through the streets of the city, dealing with artificial intelligence like in Spike Jonze’s Her (2013)? Director Tīna Zariņa’s work is a compact mix of references, genres and visual codes, a prediction of the future which has been recognised by the industry winning an award at the Baltic Pitching Forum. Through grotesque retrofuturism, creating a small time lag with its audience, the film attempts to look at society’s co-dependence on services and technology.
Cinematographer Kalvis Kulačkovskis
Set Designer Aivars Žukovskis
Costume Designer Terēze Aploka
Make-up Artist Santa Sandule
Editor Paula Popmane
Composer Aleksis Lūriņš
Sound Director Artis Lūsis
Producer Alise Ģelze
Production Company White Picture
Contacts
Alise Ģelze
+371 2615 6356
info@white-picture.lv
white-picture.lv