On May 5, the National Film Centre has announced the funding grants for co-production applications in 2021. With the funding of EUR 300,000, production of 1 documentary and 3 fiction feature films were supported.
The aim of the programme is to support international film co-productions where Latvian production companies participate as a minority co-producer.
Submissions of the projects were evaluated by NFC fiction film expert Edmunds Jansons, documentary film expert Līga Gaisa, animated film expert Ivo Briedis, as well NFC deputy director and head of film production Inga Blese.
11 projects were submitted – 8 fiction films and 3 documentaries with a total funding request of EUR 855,307. The competition funding of EUR 300,000 was allocated for the production of 3 fiction films and 1 documentary.
Fiction films
Wanderers, directed by Šarunas Bartas
(Main producer Studija Kinema, Lithuania; Latvian co-producer Mistrus Media)
Simona has abandoned her family long ago but when she hears her grandmother is dying she goes back to say goodbye and from her home village starts a dangerous journey to another side of Lithuania looking for her lost father and emotional shelter.
Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania, directed by Tomas Vengris
(Main producer Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania; Latvian co-producer Studio Locomotive)
Four guests and a housekeeper are solving their personal love crises in a Vilnius AirBnB apartment.
The Invisible Fight, directed by Rainer Sarnet
(Main producer Homeless Bob Productions, Estonia; Latvian co-producer White Picture).
USSR-China border, year 1973. Chinese kungfu militants attack the border during Raphael’s watch. He is the only one who miraculously survives. Hippie-like fighters running between the branches of trees, Black Sabbath music playing on their portable radio – images that will be remembered forever. Later, seeing monks of a similar appearance in the courtyard of the monastery, Raphael experiences a revelation and decides to become a monk himself.
Documentary film
Blind Pit, directed by Federico Schiavi, Giorgio Bianchi
(Main producer Nacne Sas, Italy; Latvian co-producer Baltic Balkan Productions)
Sasha, a blind man, works in the mines of Torez (Donbas). Against the backdrop of war‐ravaged territory, the story of a man and his challenge to regain sight and invent a new life.