The National Film Centre of Latvia (NFC) and Latvian filmmakers offer a rich harvest of films - starting from September 8, almost 20 new Latvian films are expected to premiere from September to December.
At the press conference on September 5, the calendar of premieres of the autumn-winter season was made public - at least one new Latvian film every week. Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis, head of NFC Dita Rietuma and directors, actors, producers of upcoming films informed about the new films and the general situation of the industry. Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis reminded the slogan of the culture sector during the pandemic - restrictions prohibit showing, but they do not prohibit creating! Therefore, in the past two years, in all cultural sectors, including the film industry, additional funding and opportunities for creative work were sought, and even when cinemas were closed to the public, work in the film industry did not stop and new films were made. This autumn, the audiences will see newly completed films as well as those whose premieres were postponed due to the pandemic, and according to the head of NFC Dita Rietuma the unifying factor this time is the absolute diversity in terms of subject matter, stylistics, and variety of genres, so there is hope that each viewer will find their favourite Latvian film this autumn.
Several film industry professionals, whose films will reach the audience already in September and October, took part at the press conference, among them was producer Gints Grūbe (Mistrus Media, three films this autumn), director Aiks Karapetjans (Sema ceļojumi/Samuel's Travels), director Staņislavs Tokalovs (Mīlulis /Lovable), director Elza Gauja (Mamma vēl smaida/Keep Smiling, Mom! in September), actress Baiba Broka (stars in films Keep Smiling, Mom!, Soviet Milk and January), director Uģis Olte (feature debut Upurga in October), producer Roberts Vinovskis (Lokomotive studio, four films this autumn), director of photography Aleksandrs Grebņevs (four films). Marta Bite, producer of the National Film Award Lielais Kristaps and moderator of the press conference, reminded that all these films are also welcome at Lielais Kristaps Awards that will evaluate the film harvest of 2022 in February 2023.
The Latvian film marathon begins on September 8 with Samuel's Travels directed by Aiks Karapetjans, and after the premiere the film will be shown in cinemas throughout Latvia, the same as all subsequent films scheduled for premieres by the end of this year (see the attached film programme and synopses). Information on the November and December premieres will follow at the next autumn film marathon press conference at the end of October.