The Riga International Film Festival, which will be held from October 17 to 27, will feature the national premieres of several Latvian films that have already received acclaim at other international film festivals, including "Immortal", which received the Grand Prix at Karlovy Vary, and Laila Pakalniņa's black and white film "Spoon". Kārlis Lesiņš' drama on depression – “The Despair”, with Kaspars Zāle in the lead role – will also be shown on the big screen for the first time, as will the Latvian-German co-production “The Birth of the Leopard”, a documentary about a legendary love story linking the Latvian town of Stāmeriene with Sicily.

National film premieres at RIGA IFF provide the opportunity for a growing number of respected film professionals from around the world to see the latest Latvian films and their premieres on the big screen right here in Riga. A premiere of a Latvian film is always a special event for the festival as it creates a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge national cinema and participate in celebrating the achievement. Sometimes a film makes its national premiere after it has already been screened for competitions at prominent foreign film festivals, which is the case this year with “Away” and “Spoon”; at other times, it is local audiences who will first see the film on the big screen, as it is this year with Kārlis Lesiņš’ “The Despair” and Emīls Alps’ “Choir. Conductor. Kamēr…”. RIGA IFF also invites audience to celebrate Latvian cinema.

On October 19, the film “The Despair” – award-winning director Kārlis Lesiņš’ feature-length debut featuring Kaspars Zāle, Alise Danovska, Līga Zeļģe and Vita Vārpiņa – will see its premier. The film is about Gatis, a freelancer who is struggling with depression and the modern-day affliction of burnout. He goes to his childhood home to rest, recover and clear out his mind, but accidentally ends up in a strange, cult-like therapy group that appears to aid the healing process, yet also uncovers the dark corners of Gatis’ subconsciousness as he comes to face childhood traumas and ghosts from the past. Going back home becomes a tough psychological struggle with both one’s self and one’s past. Kārlis Lesiņš, the film’s director and screenwriter, admits that this is a very personal and painful subject for him. ‘Yes, I have gone through something similar myself. I wanted to tell others about it because I know that I am not the only one – many will identify with the subject,’ reveals the director, who is a veteran recipient of two ‘Lielais Kristaps’ National Film Awards.

A significant page of European history directly related to Latvia will be opened by the Latvian-German co-production “The Birth of the Leopard”, which will be coming to Riga immediately after its world premiere at the Hamburg Film Festival. The protagonist of the film is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, known worldwide for authoring the Italian best-selling novel The Leopard. (The 1963 screen version directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon received the Grand Prix at Cannes and is considered a masterpiece.) Legend has it that Tomasi wrote part of the novel in Latvia while visiting his Baltic-German wife, Alexandra von Wolff-Stomersee, at Stāmeriena Castle. The film is laid out as the recounting of relationships; it is about an unusual love, about friendship through years of hardship, banishment and loss, and about the determination to not lose oneself during times of great change and to constantly rediscover oneself. The film’s score is by Kārlis Auzāns and features actresses Karīna Tatarinova and Sarmīte Vucāne. With costume design by Berta Vilipsone, the film was produced by Gints Grūbe and Elīna Gediņa-Ducena.

At RIGA IFF audiences will be able to finally see “Immortal”, the Estonian-Latvian documentary film that received the Grand Prix at Karlovy Vary. The film allows viewers to see a different angle of how a Russian citizen is ‘produced’. The film’s director, Ksenia Okhapkina, went with a film crew to northern Russia to a former gulag where political prisoners and deportees were once imprisoned. The film uncovers the mechanism that encourages people to voluntarily deny their personal individuality and become a serviceable resource of the state. The ultimate goal of these people is to give their lives to the ‘Motherland’, thereby achieving immortality. ‘This is a film about people who have been brought up by propaganda,’ says Okhapkina. ‘Having made this film, I have a better understanding of what is happening in Russia – why people support a government and political system that work against them and their children.’ The screenplay was co-authored by Pauls Bankovskis, who spent a lot of time in conversation with the film’s director.

The second film to have made its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival but its Latvian premier as part of the RIGA IFF Feature Film Competition programme is Laila Pakalniņa's documentary “Spoon”. The film follows the lengthy life-cycle of a simple plastic spoon – from black crude oil to a white spoon, the life purpose of which is exactly one meal. The film was made in black and white because as the director says: crude oil is black and the spoon is white. This currently very relevant ecological theme of illustrating the absurdity of modern consumer society – produce, use, throw away – has been packaged in artistic high-quality form by cameraman Gints Bērziņš, a co-author of nearly twenty of Pakalniņa’s films. Unlike many of Pakalniņa's films which are usually shot only in Latvia, the geographical scope behind “Spoon” is very broad – material for the film was also sourced from Lithuania, Norway, China, Hong Kong and Azerbaijan; the film is a co-production of Latvia, Lithuania and Norway.

Emīls Alps’ documentary “Choir. Conductor. Kamēr…” tells the story of the famous youth choir's journey journey to the Tolosa Choral Competition, at which the grand prize must be won to qualify for the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. The film’s director had the opportunity to capture moments that are usually hidden from outsiders. Created by a choir member, the film offers unprecedented insight into the singers' passion for music and the overcoming of difficulties.

Several short films by Latvian filmmakers will see their national premieres as part of the RIGA IFF programme SHORT RIGA.

Over eleven days, the Riga International Film Festival, which will take place from October 17 to 27, will screen 148 films within eleven thematic programmes and competitions. The full festival schedule and tickets to all screenings can be obtained at the festival’s website: rigaiff.lv.

RIGA IFF is supported by the Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, the National Film Centre, Live Riga, and the Riga City Council.  

This year, for the sixth instalment of the Riga International Film Festival all industry events will be gathered under the name RIGA IFF FORUM. By taking a look into the festivals guest list, one can feel captivated – FORUM will welcome board members of the European Film Academy, Baltic animation industry experts, and virtual reality enthusiasts. It will serve as a platform for foreign guests of the festival and Latvian film professionals to meet and exchange their experiences and ideas.

The first weekend of the festival is planned to be extraordinarily splendid, starting with film screenings and continuing with virtual reality hackathon and discussions about the current developments in Baltics' animation industry.

Virtual reality is a rapidly growing audiovisual medium that expands the possibilities and boundaries of cinematic language, for these matters festival once again has teamed up with the interactive production house Story Hub, to host the second edition of RIGA IFF GOES VR, which will include inspirational lectures and Magnetic Latvia hackathon.

In the meantime, taking place from October 18 to 19,  BALTIC ANIMATION MEET-UP will be held, including animation studio and individual filmmaker portfolio presentations, as well as panel discussions on the acute issues currently confronting the animation industry in the Baltics.

Not to mention that this year RIGA IFF has the honour of hosting the European Film Academy Board Members for their annual board meeting. Some of EFA’s members, including the director Agnieszka Holland, will also participate in MAGNETIC LATVIA FILM CONFERENCE lectures and discussions. The conference hosted by Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) will be dedicated to film market development in Northern Europe. The first day of the conference and the arrival of EFA Board Members will be celebrated at RIGA IFF FORUM NETWORKING EVENT, where international guests and Latvian film industry professionals will have an opportunity to get acquainted.

The RIGA IFF FORUM Baltic short film presentations for experts will take place on 24th and 25th of October. SHORT RIGA: TEST SCREENINGS are closed screenings of short films by Baltic directors, after which an international panel of experts provide evaluation and recommendations. In addition to Test Screenings, the SHORT RIGA guests and Baltic artists who are working in short moving image format will be invited to SHORT RIGA: WHAT'S UP? –  an informal event with no protocol and only one rule: 5 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions.

More information about each event and registrations: forum.rigaiff.lv

You are cordially invited to MAGNETIC LATVIA FILM CONFERENCE that is hosted by Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) at the sixth Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF).

Magnetic Latvia Film Conference is dedicated to film market development in Northern Europe. The event is another step in positioning Latvia as a B2B location on the international market. Furthermore, Conference opens an opportunity to prepare Latvian and regional filmmakers for the markets, therewith ensuring the efficiency of their market attendance and raising the business success. Conference will be attended by a number of renowned figures of world cinema as well as young, talented and passionate filmmakers.

Explore the full programme and register for the conference and/or locations tour here: forum.rigaiff.lv

In the course of the first day of the Conference, speakers will address the challenges and factors, which relatively small countries should consider for international marketing when entering major global markets and highlighting the value of local production on the global arena.

On the second day of the Conference, guests will be invited to gain a fabulous experience and enduring memories on the locations tour – Latvia’s geographic position has made it a bone of contention for various empires, but we are proudly keeping alive our cultural diversity, polishing our historical values and adoring our various landscapes.

As the director of LIAA Andris Ozols says: “This is another step in positioning Latvia as a catching location on the map of international movie market. We are glad to give filmmakers the opportunity to pursue new challenges, to provide a better understanding of international markets, thus contributing to their business growth and creative accomplishments.”

The Film Conference will take place at AB Dam in Riga on 18–19 October 2019. During the conference director Agnieska Holland, producers Julie Baines, Katriel Schory and animation talent consultant Shelly Page will discuss how to get small country products into the big markets. Furthermore, Jonathan Olsberg and Jānis Kalējs will speak about the potential of Baltic film industry. And additionally, speakers will address the future of the industry, as well as the local production value in the global landscape and how to influence people's decision-making process in a fast-changing world.

The 2019 edition of the international Astra Film Festival in Sibiu, which will take place between 14 and 20 October, presents a series of exceptional documentaries that propose a deep reflection on the past for a better understanding of the present reality. The films are directed by some of the most important voices of universal cinema, such as Werner Herzog and Sergei Loznitsa, and they focus on titans of history Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev but also on key moments in recent Romanian history - the ‘89 Revolution, then and now.

”State Funeral”, the most recent film directed by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, will have its Romanian premiere during the Opening Gala of Astra Film Festival 2019 on Monday, 14 October, from 7:00 PM at Thalia Hall. The film, which recently had its worldwide premiere at the Venice Film Festival, explores the impact of Stalin’s death in 1953 on the entire Soviet Union and captures the moment of the burial as a climactic point in the dictator’s cult of personality. Loznitsa employs his unmistakable style in dissecting this “Great Farewell” through a montage of rare and long-forgotten archive footage. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Emil Hurezeanu, the Romanian ambassador in Berlin, starting from Loznitsa’s film, on the nature and legacies of communist regimes that are still haunting the contemporary world.

The documentary ”State Funeral” is competing in the Central & Eastern Europe competition and a second screening will be held on Friday, 18 October, 12:00 PM at Astra Film Cinema 2. Sergei Loznitsa, a close friend of the Astra Film Festival in Sibiu, received the “Astra Film Grand Prize” in 2014 for his documentary “Maidan”.

Another memorable meeting proposed by Astra Film Festival this year is Werner Herzog’s documentary, ”Meeting Gorbachev”. In the current international context dominated by dire forecasts, Herzog revisits some of the most remarkable achievements of the visionary Gorbachev, former General Secretary of the USSR, such as his involvement in ending the Cold War, his negotiations with the USA for reducing nuclear weapons or stopping the Soviet control on Eastern Europe. The documentary will be screened on Thursday, 17 October, 6:00 PM, at Thalia Hall and on Saturday, 19 October, 1:00 PM, at Cinema Ion Besoiu – Large Hall. The documentary is part of the Great Masters section. 

Since this year marks the 30 year anniversary of the 1989 Revolution and the fall of Communism, Astra Film Festival brings on the big screen a fragment of this macro-event documented by director Dobrivoie Kerpenisan in his native village near Timișoara. The film ”Rebels with a cause” begins with those images and reaches the protagonists of these events as they are today. This experience reignites the fear and the courage felt during those days but also their past hopes and dreams for a better future. The documentary is included in the Romania competition and will have its worldwide premiere on Friday, 6:00 PM, at Thalia Hall, followed by a further screening on Saturday, 19 October, 3:00 PM, at Cinema Ion Besoiu – Large Hall. 

The entire programme of Astra Film Festival 2019 is available here: https://www.astrafilm.ro/en/program/

Astra Film Festival Sibiu is held under the High Patronage of the Romanian Presidency.

Astra Film Festival 2019 is coordinated by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation, with the support of the Sibiu County Council, the Ministry of Culture and National Identity and the National Center of Cinematography. The event is co-financed by the Sibiu Local Council through the City Hall of Sibiu.