On October 12, Linda Olte's second feature film "The Child," starring Agnese Budovska in the lead role, will celebrate its world premiere in the main competition program of the Warsaw International Film Festival. The film will be shown in Latvian cinemas in February next year.
Published: 08.10.2026.
Foto: Andrejs Strokins
The Warsaw International Film Festival is an A-class festival that has now been held in the Polish capital for 42 years. Linda Olte's latest feature film The Child / Bērns has been selected to participate in the festival's main competition. Previously, in 2022, Olte's debut film Sisters / Māsas won two awards at this festival, which later also received recognition from Latvian audiences and critics, including several national film awards. After its premiere in Warsaw, the film The Child will continue its international journey at other major European film festivals.
The Child is a sensitive relationship drama about a couple in their thirties trying to fulfill a long-cherished dream – to have a child – but struggling with infertility. The film's main character, Zane, was once an Olympic-level swimmer and successfully participated in international competitions. However, at a decisive moment, Zane left her athletic career to start a family together with her husband, sports journalist Kaspars. After years of battling infertility, Kaspars is ready to give up, but Zane is not going to give up – she is ready to do anything to fulfill her dream and become a mother.
"Although I have children myself, when I learned about how many people around me are actually struggling to become parents – seemingly such a natural and self-evident thing – I realized this is an important topic I want to talk about. While making the film, I was interested in what happens to a couple when one is ready to accept life without a child, but the other cannot give up this desire. How this different attitude gradually begins to split relationships and distance two people who once looked at life in the same direction. And perhaps, chasing after what we don't have, we sometimes no longer see or appreciate what we already have," says director Linda Olte about the film's concept.
The main roles in the film are played by Agnese Budovska and Raimonds Celms. Other important roles are played by Anta Aizupe, Andris Keišs, Ināra Slucka, Esmeralda Ermale, and Gerda Rudzīte. The film's director, editor, and screenwriter is Linda Olte, the cinematographer is Valdis Celmiņš, composer Spāre Vītola, production designer - Laura Dišlere, costume designer - Fausta Naujale (Lithuania), sound director Julius Grigelionis (Lithuania), makeup artist Santa Sandule Šatirašvili, producers Matīss Kaža and Klementina Remeikaite.
Film is produced by Trickster Pictures (Latvia) and Afterschool Production (Lithuania), and is financially supported by the National Film Centre, Creative Europe MEDIA program, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Lithuanian Film Centre, Tet, LMT, and LTV.
More information:
info@trickster.lv