RIGA: Latvia’s National Film Center (www.nfc.lv) has expressed its concern over a special grant from the Latvian Parliament for a historical film, made by bypassing the project competition established in the country’s Film Law.

RIGA: Latvian director/writer Laila Pakalnina is prepping two new doc productions while her new feature Pizzas premieres in competition at the Rome Film Festival.

RIGA: The complex of Riga Film Studio buildings, including the largest sound stage in the Baltic states, was sold at auction this week due to presumed land lease debts, leaving the future of the studio uncertain.

The Latvian film industry saw an influx of foreign film productions thanks to the July 2011 launch of the Riga Film Fund (www.filmriga.lv) rebate initiative and produced some strong and somewhat controversial domestic features. The Latvian TV market underwent a substantial change with media company MTG (www.mtg.se) taking over local TV station LNT (www.lnt.lv).