PRODUCTION: Māris Martinsons Shoots Latvian Period Drama In the Land That Sings

05-09-2022

PRODUCTION: Māris Martinsons Shoots Latvian Period Drama In the Land That Sings

By Kristine Simsone

In the Land That Sings Image courtesy Māris Martinsons

RIGA: The historical drama In the Land That Sings / Zeme, kas dzied directed by Māris Martinsons has just wrapped the third stage of shooting in Latvia. The film is a Latvian/Estonian coproduction.

The storyline focuses on the events that took place prior to the first Latvian Song and Dance Festival in 1873, now a quinquennial event of great national importance. As the film's producer Linda Krūkle from Latvia’s K Films states, the upcoming film is envisioned as a universal historical story, seeking to tell the circumstances of the formation of a new country in Northeastern Europe.

Altogether four stages of filming are scheduled, as the film's team have to capture events taking place during three seasons. So far, the film has been shot across various parts of the country, including the studio Cinevilla Studios. The filming started on 9 March 2021 with altogether 40 shooting shifts planned.

The final stage of shooting will take place during the autumn months of 2022 with the postproduction due to begin in 2023.

The film's cast will include actors from Latvia, Lithuania (Arunas Valinskas), Estonia (Priit Pius) as well as Poland (Bohdan Robert Graczyk). The internationally renowned Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka is among the cast members.

The film is produced by Latvia’s K Films in coproduction with Estonian A Film Eesti and Kopli Kinokompanii. The film is supported by the National Film Centre of Latvia, the Latvian National Centre for Culture and mobile tech innovator LMT. The project is also benefiting from the Estonian cash rebates from Film Estonia. However, a crowdfunding campaign is planned for the autumn of 2022 in order to close the budget which is estimated at 3 m EUR.

The film's release is planned for the summer of 2023.

Production Information:

In the Land that Sings by Māris Martinsons, photo: Andrejs Strokins Producer:
K Films (Latvia)

Coproducers:
A Film Eesti (Estonia)
Kopli Kinokompanii (Estonia)

Credits:
Director: Māris Martinsons
Screenwriters: Māris Martinsons, Dainis Īvāns
DoP: Jānis Jurkovskis
Production designer: Mārtiņš Kalseris
Costume designer: Katrīna Liepa
Make-up artist: Aija Beata Rjabovska
Original music: Jēkabs Jančevskis
Cast: Andris Bulis, Ainārs Ančevskis, Vilis Daudziņš, Nauris Brikmanis, Andris Keišs, Marta Lovisa Jančevska, Marina Rebeka, Priit Pius, Arunas Valinskas, Ģirts Ķesteris, Bohdan Robert Graczyk

Published in Latvia