From 5 November, a selection of films from the three Baltic States will be screened at the traditional New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF), which takes place both onsite (nine feature films and six short films from November 5–9) and on an online in territory of USA (seven other films from November 10–16).
The New York Baltic Film Festival is the largest regular Baltic film representation event in the United States, it was founded in 2018 as a centenary event of the three Baltic States and is still supported by the national film institutions of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as embassies and diaspora organizations of all three countries. Film screenings take place in the cinema hall of the Scandinavian House in New York, offering viewers to meet with filmmakers and representatives of creative teams, each country is now traditionally represented by three feature films and two short films, which are combined in a joint program Baltic Shorts Program.
This year, the Latvian film has already been selected for the opening night of the festival on November 5 – it will feature film The Exalted / Cildenie by Juris Kursietis, which will be represented in person in New York by the protagonist Juris Žagars. In-person screenings will also feature the documentary sequel by directors Ivars Selecks and Armands Začs To be Continued. Teenhood / Turpinājums. Pieaugšana (screening on November 9), while the first four episodes of director Andrejs Ēkis mini-series Mutiny / Dumpis will be shown on November 7, while the entire series will be available on the NYBFF online platform. In the short film program (screening on November 9), Latvia will be represented by director Zane Oborenko and her sand animated film Kafka. In Love / Kafka. Iemīlējies and short film Where Does the Sun Sleep at Night?. . . / Kur saulīte nakti guļ?.by Ildze Felsberga.
The online program of the New York Baltic Film Festival this year is to some extent related to and complements face-to-face screenings – the Latvian film selection, together with the multi-series film Mutiny will offer viewers the previous film work of Jurs Kursietis, the feature film Oleg / Oļegs (2019), which premiered at Cannes, and the Centenary film To be Continued / Turpinājums (2018) by the classic of Latvian documentary cinema Ivars Selecks, in which he first met the heroes of this cinematic story, at that time still first-graders.
The organization of the New York Baltic Film Festival is supported by the three film institutions of the Baltic States (National Film Center of Latvia, Lithuanian Film Center and the Estonian Film Institute), diplomatic services and diaspora organizations, including the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), ALA, PBLA Culture Foundation, the Embassy of Latvia in the USA, the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the UN, the Honorary Consulate of Latvia in New York, the Latvian company USA Edhard Corporation and other cooperation partners.