RIGA IFF 2020 FILM GUIDE (ENG)

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GUIDE Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

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Liene Treimane RIGA IFF Director

Unexpected turns and fateful changes happen to us all the time. The unpredictable is predictable only in its uncertainty.

We reflect on it, we study it, and we try to understand and get along with it. This year, the whole world is focusing on the unknown and, as usual, the film festival has had to reinvent itself. How do we make the film theatre a safe space for cinematic travels? How do we recreate the festival experience at home? How can we be global if we must stay local?

We are growing within us the yearnings of an explorer as we head into the unknown – to get to know the world through other people’s eyes. This autumn, for the seventh time.

The festival will bring together 129 stories – features, shorts, documentaries, fiction, brilliant debuts, and classic auteur cinema from the masters. Czech New Wave will alternate with Swedish science fiction,

expressive Brazilian and Russian melodramas will mingle with the subtly muted tones of Nordic cinema, experimental short films and music videos will live alongside meditative cinematic poems, and lively dramedies will play together with masterpieces of animation.

We will talk about faith, hope, isolation, courage; about the sublime and the vile, the past and the future. We will engage in philosophical conversations in the mountains of Transylvania and argue the finer points of equality while snorting cocaine in London. We will take you to the forests of the French Alps, to Alexanderplatz in Berlin, to a canteen inside a Soviet research institute, and to the streets of Riga in 1913. We will not hide from the climate crisis, we will observe both the human body and urban landscapes, we will listen to the hollow echoes of architectural monuments, and we will celebrate by turning cinema into a concert. We will show you films about love.

What takes place on the screen also takes place in our minds: singing the praises of solitude, raising children, fighting for your life, or giving up peace and stability as you go to the planet’s most dangerous places to capture the inconceivable on film. We can only be as brave, good, sad or happy as we are in this very moment.

By immersing ourselves into the world before us on the silver screen, we can be more, we can be different; we can be yesterday and we can be tomorrow.

Currently, we can do it without leaving our homes.

The unknown is here. You just have to face it, get to know it, and make it your own – your friend, your ally... or simply tame it – that’s up to you.

– This tag marks a foreword to the film by the programme curator.

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RIGA IFF TEAM

LEADERSHIP

ADMINISTRATION

Liene Treimane Festival Director

Aldona Jakšta Operations Supervisor

Sonora Broka Artistic Director

Elīna Grūbe Legal Advisor, Financial Manager

PROGRAMME Anna Zača Curator, SHORT RIGA Programme Designer, BALTIC ANIMATION MEET-UP and SHORT RIGA Test Screenings Kristīne Simsone Curator, KIDS WEEKEND and RIGA IFF GOES XR Paula Bērziņa Coordinator, RIGA IFF FORUM Film Distribution Agnese Logina Curator, SHORT RIGA Baltic Music Video

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Lauma Kaudzīte Curator, BALTIC ANIMATION MEET-UP and SHORT RIGA Test Screenings Curator’s Assistant, SHORT RIGA Dārta Ceriņa Associate Curator, Film Programme, Contributing Author, RIGA IFF Catalogue Pēteris Krilovs Guest Curator, IN KINO VERITAS Viesturs Celmiņš Guest Curator, ARCHITECT’S CUT Māris Prombergs Film Distribution

COMMUNICATION Kaspars Kursišs Marketing & Communications Manager Edijs Vucēns Creative Consultant of Communications Žulijens Nuhums Kulibali Social Media Manager Marta Folkmane, Katrīna Ozoliņa Design and Managing of Communication Materials

Asnāte Vasiļjeva Editor-in-Chief and Text Author, RIGA IFF Catalogue Head of Film Translation Department Ilze Ella Negribe Editorial Assistant, RIGA IFF Catalogue Līga Māra Kriķe English Copy Editor and Translator, RIGA IFF Catalogue

Krists Kondrāts

Website Developer Ervins Broks

RIGA IFF Award Designer Artūrs Liepiņš

RIGA IFF Audio Artist Andrejs Strokins Photographer

Jūle Mare Rozīte English Copy Editor and Translator of Communication Texts

ONSITE MANAGEMENT Lelde Prūse Events Producer Jānis Žagariņš Production Manager & Technical Supervisor Laura Ziemele Film Translators’ Coordinator

Mārtiņš Kontants Film Storage Manager

Daiga Livčāne Head of Volunteer Department

Liene Hapanioneka Print Traffic Coordinator

Karīna Zeļonka, Monta Tīģere Volunteer Coordinators

Hārdijs Cibuļskis Film Storage Supervisor

AUDIENCE & GUEST SERVICES Kristafers Zeiļuks Head of Audience Services Department

Agate Prozoroviča Guest Services Manager

Jana Pakalna Guest Services Manager

Laurent Dathie Manager of Screening Hall Administrators

Postal address: Baznīcas iela 8-20 Rīga, LV-1010 Latvia

info@rigaiff.lv support@rigaiff.lv – regarding online screenings and tickets

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CONTENTS 6

VENUES

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OPENING NIGHT

Cine-concert Where is the Truth?!

Film programme:

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FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

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IN KINO VERITAS

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FESTIVAL SELECTION

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NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

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SHORT RIGA National Competition

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Highlights of Film Festivals

SHORT RIGA Persona

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SHORT RIGA Baltic Music Video

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KIDS WEEKEND

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KIDS WEEKEND Premiere of Shammies

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KIDS WEEKEND Animated Short Films

Cinematic accents of Nordic countries

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HOME MADE Premieres

Baltic Film Landscape

The premieres of Baltic films

HOME MADE Animated

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Baltic animated films

FOUND IN BERLINALE

Current trends in German film

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ARCHITECT’S CUT

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SHORT RIGA

Architecture, environment, cinema

SHORT RIGA Festival Darlings

The short films most beloved by festivals worldwide

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Retrospective & Research

HOME MADE

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SHORT RIGA International Competition

Films from the Baltic Sea Region and Nordic countries

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Retrospective of short films

by Gunhild Enger

Film feast for the whole family

SPECIAL EVENT

Aniara, 2018. Directors: Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja

RIGA IFF FORUM Film industry events

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WHERE ARE THE TICKETS?

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FRIENDS & SUPPORTERS

Short films, experimental cinema and music videos

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VENUES Splendid Palace Elizabetes iela 61

The festival’s home and primary event location. Long ago, it was the first theatre in Northern Europe to display sound motion pictures. No strange to festivities, it will host the Opening of RIGA IFF, the FEATURE FILM COMPETITION, numerous premieres, and most of the screenings... You’ll find the festival’s Information Centre here as well!

One of Europe’s most beautiful cinemas inspires a sincere celebration of cinema together with RIGA IFF.

Cafe Film Noir Elizabetes iela 61

Over the years, Cafe Film Noir has been a meeting place during RIGA IFF for all international and local film industry representatives to discuss industry issues and check out the latest technologies. By transferring RIGA IFF FORUM to an online format this year, all Cafe Film Noir industry events will be broadcast live; however, the master class led by artist, animator, and director Gints Zilbalodis will be available both online and in person.

National Library of Latvia (NLL) Mūkusalas iela 3

The National Library of Latvia, dubbed the Castle of Light, is one of this decade’s most noticeable new buildings in Riga, and a hot topic for discussion – which is why we could not have imagined a better location for motion pictures and talks about architecture.

As part of the programme, two films will be presented at the Ziedonis Hall. The Special Event of the festival will also be held here – the screening of Aniara, film by Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, and the discussion Life During Climate Change.

online.rigaiff.lv 51 film screenings online!

LSM.LV The Opening Night online!

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RIGA IFF

OPENING NIGHT

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CINE-CONCERT “WHERE IS THE TRUTH?!”

The 7th edition of RIGA IFF will open with a cine-concert that will take the audience back 107 years with a resonance that spans both time and place.

We encourage audiences to explore the unknown – both in terms of the changes affecting us at the moment, as well as looking back in time.

The first ‘cinematic dramas’ were shot in Riga in 1913, with artists both local as well as from Berlin and Moscow, and the ‘picture houses’ of the time tried to meet modern technical standards. The halls were equipped with a recently invented device that prevented the image from shaking or catching fire. The voice of silent cinema at that time was live accompaniment by individual musicians, orchestras, or recitations by actors.

Shot in Riga and Ventspils, the silent film Where is the Truth? reached audiences in 1913 thanks to Siegfried Mintus – producer, movie theatre owner, and distributor of motion pictures and cinema equipment – whose own life, with its enigmatic twists and turns, would likely make for a film as exciting as any.

Tonight, the film will speak in the voice of contemporary original music. The composers and performers of this premier presentation are two musicians who have proven themselves in the field of cinema – Artūrs Liepiņš and Jēkabs Nīmanis.

Artūrs Liepiņš created the soundtrack for the German silent film People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag, 1930), an important film in European cinema history commissioned by the Les Arcs Film Festival, as well as the soundtracks for the films Paradise ’89 (2018), All My Friends Are Dead (2019), and Fable (2019).

Liepiņš is the author of RIGA IFF’s audio identity, and is well known abroad, especially in Francophone countries, for his musical alter-ego project Domenique Dumont.

Jēkabs Nīmanis Jēkabs Nīmanis has been creating film soundtracks since 2008, received the Lielais Kristaps national film award for the music for the film Māra (2014), and since 2010 has been creating the sound for the children’s animated film series Shammies. He also composes for theatre, actively performs, and works with sound installation and audio-visual design.

Splendid Palace Large hall & LSM.LV Thursday, 15.10 19:00

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RIGA IFF

OPENING NIGHT WHERE IS THE TRUTH?!

VU IZ EMES?!

The Russian Empire, 1913, 34’ For audiences age 16 and up In the snowy streets of Riga at the beginning of the last century, horses pull carriages, a student couple in love meet at the Cathedral of the Nativity, a tram slides along Alexander Boulevard, and bare trees sway in the windy alleys. So as not to freeze, men crossing the Opera Bridge have shoved their hands in their pockets, while the women have fur muffs... The story, however, takes place in an unnamed place outside of the Pale of Settlement*.

Having come from Bessarabia province, Adele Weisekind is listening in to university lectures because the Jewish student quota is full. Soon an alarming message arrives – as she has no right to live here, the police inform her that she must leave the city within three days.

In an effort to stay, Adele registers as a prostitute...

This is the oldest surviving feature film shot in the territory of Latvia. The end of this tragic love story, in which the forlorn Rafail himself dies on a cold night at Adele’s grave, has been lost. The script is based on the play At Sea and Ellis Island by Abraham Shaikewitz Schomer, a lawyer, writer and architect of the idea for a World Jewish Congress; the play has been repeatedly cinematized and performed in theatres.

Following the initiative of Riga Film Museum, this film was restored in 2020 by Locomotive Classics with the financial support of State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia. *A territory within the borders of czarist Russia wherein the residence of Jews was legally authorized and beyond which a few were allowed to live – those with university education or baptized, registered prostitutes, members of the most affluent of the merchant guilds and some military personnel.

Cast: Anna Liesma, Herberts Konrāds, Lūcija Lipste-Ozola, Jānis Heine-Ozols, Ivans Hudoļejevs Production: Siegfried Mintus Splendid Palace Large hall & LSM.LV Thursday, 15.10 19:00

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FEATUR FILM

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COMPETITION FILMS FROM THE BALTIC SEA REGION AND NORDIC COUNTRIES

The competition programme showcases films from the Baltic Sea region and Nordic Countries characterised by innovative cinematic language and distinct artistic expression. There are no genre or style restrictions – films may fall into documentary, fiction, animation, or any cross-genre category.

Surprisingly different schools, traditions and visions can be discovered within the geographical scope of this competition. The selected works embody RIGA IFF’s reflections on tomorrow’s cinema today.

The selected titles are evaluated by an international jury consisting of industry experts, theoreticians, filmmakers, and representatives from the international film festival community.

The RIGA IFF Feature Film Competition’s award has been designed in collaboration with artist Ervins Broks. The winning director can share this eight-piece sculpture – a rooster poured in bronze – among the film crew. The winner also receives a monetary prize from the insurance company BALTA.

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CURATOR’S GREETING

Sonora Broka RIGA IFF Creative Director

‘Plants and animals are the most intelligent But we are more intelligent than most people Because we know that we aren’t intelligent’ These words, which so accurately perceive the current mood in the world, are spoken by a character in one of the competition films. Uncertainty, loss of the foundation under our feet, and a revealing, direct, attentive and exploratory look at the surrounding environment – as if we’re seeing it for the first time; these are the threads that weave through several of the competition films, once again proving that film can have the sensitivity of a fine barometer that has been tuned to the interactions between humans and the world, as well to the transformations this relationship model undergoes. This year, the films included in the competition clearly underscore not only the latest trends in current cinematic language, but also the processes that are taking place in ecology and society. A dusky tonality lures with its melancholic mood as it makes us think about the approaching comet. What will the new humans created by the collapse of the current world system look like?

Sitting in the darkness of the cinema and watching the ghostly figures of the shadows of the outside world projected onto the screen, it is possible to discover more than just the competition film directors’ worldviews and the narratives that prevail in them; just as much, if not more, this ‘mirror therapy’ will lead you to learn about yourself.

As in previous years, the competing feature fiction films have the documentaries standing next to them on the same starting line; what unifies all the films is geography – the Baltic Sea region and the Nordic countries. In our opinion, this delineation encourages us to see what is similar and what is different in the cinema of countries that are linked by a comparable climate but whose mentalities are quite divergent. Along with filmmakers coming out with their debuts, we present masters of film whose sovereign aesthetic has already been enshrined in recent cinematic history, as well as the return of several film competition directors whose signature skills viewers of previous RIGA IFF festivals will surely remember.

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FEATURE FILM COMPETITION JURY

Marge Liiske

Dmitrij Gluščevskij

Eva Markovits

Marge Liiske has held various positions in the film business since 1990. Since 2016, she runs Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, one of the fastest growing industry platforms in the winter season, taking place annually during the Black Nights Film Festival in November. Marge is an active Member of the Board of the Estonian Film Industry Cluster and has also been appointed as Member of the Board of the Estonian Film Institute.

Dmitrij Gluščevskij is a Programmer at the European Film Forum Scanorama in Lithuania as well as the co-founder and curator of the Early Film Festival Pirmoji Banga. He is also a freelance film critic and a secret academic with a background in Philosophy and Semiotics, currently working on a PhD on semiotics of humour in Daniil Kharms’ fiction.

Eva Markovits is a French programmer (La Cinémathèque française, Centre Pompidou, Brive International Film Festival, Amiens International Film Festival) and part of the Belfort International Film Festival selection committee. Part of the editorial board of the film magazine Les Cahiers du cinéma, she also participates in various education programs teaching film analysis and does interviews for a cinema program Viva Cinéma for the French TV channel Ciné +. Her interest in cinema is varied but she has a special liking for Indian cinema.

Laila Pakalniņa

Theo Tsappos

Laila Pakalniņa graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction, in 1991. A director and scriptwriter of 31 documentaries, 5 shorts, and 6 fiction features, altogether she has 42 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 2 dogs and 2 bicycles. And many ideas for new films. Her films have screened in official programmes at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Rome and other international festivals, where they have won numerous awards.

For the past ten years Theo Tsappos has been working with international festival distribution at the Swedish Film Institute’s international department. Festival manager for feature film, and his main area of focus has primarily been the international premieres of Swedish films at film festivals and the festival distribution of these films.

His work includes forming strategies for each separate film and to find the most suitable festivals, platforms and markets to launch the film internationally.

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

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Eva Marie Rødbro

I LOVE YOU I MISS YOU I HOPE I SEE YOU BEFORE I DIE DK, 2019, 76’, en For audiences age 16 and up

A young mother-of-two is living below the poverty line and sharing a house with ten others in suburban Colorado Springs. Resilient and emotionally sensitive, she is nonetheless continually tested by the realities of her daily life; mounting debts, a troubling partner and the expectations of motherhood. Tight family clan of children born by children born by children... A delicate collage of domesticity far from bliss, but imbued with love – harsh and dreamy story of a girl and her longing heart.

This story lacks a classic narrative. The director was aiming to make a picture that doesn’t try to look like a real film, to meet and celebrate a life not having to look like an ordinary life. In her opinion, stories like that don’t exist anyway. The film consists of little pieces of emotion and information that we constantly try to orchestrate. Sometimes we are the ghosts that soar through us all and see everything.

Screenplay: Eva Marie Rødbro Cinematography: Eva Marie Rødbro, Troels Rasmus Jensen Cast: Betty Sharlene Boykin, Wilma Sharlene Deering, Jade Sharlene Boykin, Molly Jane Nikole Potter Production: Julie Friis Walenciak / PALOMA PRODUCTIONS

Maria Ignatenko

Yevgeny Pashkevich

IN DEEP SLEEP

WHAT SILENT GERDA KNOWS

GOROD USNUL

KO ZINA KLUSĀ GERDA

RU, 2020, 71’, ru For audiences age 18 and up

LV, 2020, 91’, lv/en/lt/ru For audiences age 16 and up

An aggravated murder has been committed on a Russian fishing trawler.

The perpetrator is a young man torn from another death. Victor is surrounded by a gloomy gray world with gloomy gray waters and gloomy gray people. He finds himself in a both soothing and frightening silence – only the breath of those deeply asleep can be heard. Is anyone awake?

The monochrome winter scenery, the vivid flashbacks, the stillness of the moment and the sleeping city are all shards of a shattered landscape, which ultimately recombine and coalesce into a frozen, icy mass.

The film is about an enormous, incomprehensible loss. When you lose someone you love, you feel as if the world ceases to exist. As if it falls asleep.

The protagonist feels empty inside, but his personal tragedy stirs the dark side of his personality and turns him into a criminal. The dreamlike space created by the director is complemented by the music of Vladislav Nastavshev with lyrics of Federico Garcia Lorca.

Closing day of the season in the boarding house at the Vietinghoff Palace in the province of Latvia. Here the material world and atmosphere of the 1930s are reconstructed as fully as possible.

According to the rules of the institution, guests must abandon all their means of digital communications. And this is what they are looking for: to disappear, at least for a while, and become inaccessible to the outside world. The lingering summer heat drags the guests into an insane frenzy where surrealistic and grotesque situations build up an ambiguous comedy.

Director states that many things that we do not express in words or deeds manifest in our fantasies; and paradoxically enough they reflect our true self more vividly than the daily routine.

“Fantasy is Nature’s gift able to embellish the dullness of existence. It is filled with Romance, Drama, Pause and Grotesque.

The world of fantasy is dual and beyond the grasp of the mind. However it governs our life at a greater extent than we can imagine.”

Screenplay: Maria Ignatenko Cinematography: Veronika Solovyova Cast: Vadik Korolyov, Dmitry Kubasov, Lyudmila Duplyakina, Galina Lebedinets Production: Katerina Mikhaylova, Konstantin Fam / VEGA FILM

Screenplay: Yevgeny Pashkevich Cinematography: Andrejs Rudzāts Cast: Severija Janušauskaitė, Leonid Yarmolnik, Leonardas Pobedonoscevas, Kärt Tammjärv Production: Yevgeny Pashkevich / NIDA FILMA

A master class for growing up in a family where no one notices you.

An industrial variation on the enchanted princess. Instead of sleep, she is overcome by boundless, numbing apathy.

A dream outside of time. As in a game of chess played by sleepwalkers, each piece has its own cryptic trajectory.

Splendid Palace Small hall Wednesday, 21.10 16:00

Splendid Palace Small hall Wednesday, 21.10 20:30

Splendid Palace Large hall Thursday, 22.10 18:30

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FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Jurgis Matulevičius

Daniel Joseph Borgman

Ivan I. Tverdovsky

IZAOKAS

HARPIKS

KONFERENTSIYA

LT, 2019, 104’, lt For audiences age 16 and up

DK, 2019, 92’, da For audiences age 16 and up

RU/EE/GB/IT, 2020, 127’, ru For audiences age 16 and up

During the Kaunas pogrom in 1941, Andrius Gluosnis kills his Jewish neighbour Isaac with a soldier’s spade.

He suspects Isaac told on him to the NKVD, accusing Gluosnis of being a nationalist – this resulted in him being jailed. Years after, he works for the KGB as a forensic photographer, and lives with the woman he has dreamt about his whole life. However, he is haunted by his guilt. As a coincidence his friend, film director Gutauskas comes back from the USA to make a movie about the Lietukis massacre. He investigates, reads archives about the killings, and comes close to gruesome facts.

There is a forest on Denmark’s peninsula, where a couple – overwhelmed with fear, despair and helplessness – once settled. In the claustrophobic paradise they have created, their daughter grows like a hermit. Sheltered from the outside world the family survives on what they can find in nature. Here, even the smallest things have a soul and a deep meaning.

Everything goes in the course of a ghostly fairy tale, until the 13-year-old girl’s curiosity grows, her grandmother makes a surprise visit, and nettle tea with raspberry leaves no longer helps.

A group of armed militants took nearly one thousand hostages at the Dubrovka Theatre Centre in Moscow on 23 October 2002. In exchange for their lives, the terrorists demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the republic. After almost three days, law enforcers carried out the rescue operation, during which 130 hostages were killed.

Natalia comes to Moscow from her quiet monastic life for a memorial evening of the tragedy. At the time, she fled through a window but lost her son. Her husband and daughter perceived this as a betrayal.

She went to the monastery. Will it be possible to reconcile with past trauma?

ISAAC

RESIN

The film discusses themes of friendship, love, regret and self-liberation in the difficult historical context. The director uses a method that resembles the work of Flemish artist Peter Bruegel – the event takes place on a second plan and the main idea and theme is structured from small details of a landscape. He just shows the essence of things.

Screenplay: Saulė Bliuvaitė, Jurgis Matulevičius, Nerijus Milerius Cinematography: Narvydas Naujalis Cast: Aleksas Kazanavičius, Severija Janušauskaitė, Dainius Gavenonis, Martynas Nedzinskas Production: Stasys Baltakis / FILM JAM

A disturbing drama based on Ane Riel’s international bestseller. The director hails from New Zealand but has been living and working in Denmark since 2007. His film is about how we look at misfits and people who are different. And it’s about generational change that turns into a nightmare and fruitless confrontation if there is no mutual openness and listening.

Screenplay: Bo Erhard Hansen Cinematography: Louise McLaughlin Cast: Peter Plaugborg, Vivelill Søgaard Holm, Sofie Gråbøl, Ghita Nørby Production: Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Katja Adomeit / ZENTROPA ENTERTAINMENTS, ADOMEIT FILM

CONFERENCE

The director focuses on the universal fear of people and studies post-traumatic stress disorder. The former hostages must go again through the harsh emotional experience. With a hope that their wounds could be healed.

Screenplay: Ivan I. Tverdovsky Cinematography: Fedor Glazachev Cast: Natalia Pavlenkova, Olga Lapshina, Ksenia Zuyeva, Oleg Feoktistov Production: Katerina Mikhaylova, Konstantin Fam, Egor Odintsov / VEGA FILM, ARK PICTURES / NAFTA FILMS, REVOLVER, REASON8 FILMS

A precisely spliced intarsia of time in which the ghosts of the past follow at every step.

Eco-horror is the new reality of a socially liberated world.

Innovative forms of mourning make it possible to talk about what cannot be expressed in words.

Splendid Palace Small hall Thursday, 22.10 20:30

Splendid Palace Small hall Friday, 23.10 16:00

Splendid Palace Small hall Friday, 23.10 18:00

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

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Illum Jacobi

THE TROUBLE WITH NATURE DK/FR, 2020, 95’, en For audiences age 16 and up

The philosopher Edmund Burke has fled London to go on a grandtour of the Alps to rewrite his treatise on the sublime.

Stakes are high – his future depends on this bold face-to-face meeting with nature. He is accompanied only by a young and beautiful native servant Awak from plantations. Soon he discovers that nature stings, itches and fails to give him any enlightenment. The mysteries of the sublime refuse to be unlocked…

An absurd allegory of our human relation to the natural world. At the end of the film, the director has made Burke stand on a cliff, just like in the Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, thus emphasizing both the majesty of the landscape and the insignificance of the individual in it. It must be said that the protagonist’s twisted mind is in no way in line with his historical prototype.

Screenplay: Hans Frederik Jacobsen, Illum Jacobi Cinematography: Frederik Jacobi Cast: Antony Langdon, Nathalia Acevedo, Andrew Jeffers, Ian Burns Production: Illum Jacobi, Xavier Rocher, Marina Perales Marhuenda, Katja Adomeit / LA FABRICA NOCTURNA CINÉMA, ADOMEIT FILM

Andrey A. Tarkovsky

ANDREY TARKOVSKY. A CINEMA PRAYER IT/RU/SE, 2019, 93’, ru For audiences age 16 and up

Like a fabulous dream, the story begins and ends with a dormant baby in the creative destiny and art of which memories will play an immeasurable role as a special emotional structure.

Andrey Tarkovsky left us with eight cinematic masterpieces and an ever growing interest in and desire to understand his work. Here he shares with us his memories, his view of art and his reflections on the destiny of the artist and the meaning of human existence.

The account is accompanied by never previously released recordings of poems

by Arseny Tarkovsky, one of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century, read by his son. Artists imitate the Creator. Art is a prayer. That says it all.

What did Tarkovsky himself think about his phenomenon? The director of this documentary wanted to take viewers back to the origins of Tarkovsky’s thought and share the emotion of the encounter with the great artist, great man and life mentor that was his father.

Screenplay: Andrey A. Tarkovsky Cinematography: Alexey Naidenov Cast: Andrey Tarkovsky Production: Andrey A. Tarkovsky, Dmitry Klepatski, Peter Krupenin, Paolo Maria Spina / ANDREY TARKOVSKY INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE, KLEPATSKI PRODUCTION, HOBAB, REVOLVER

Contemporary philosophical satire under the guise of hallucinogenic costume drama.

A son’s meditation on his father’s cinema legacy, destined to become one of the most beautiful shrines to cinema.

Splendid Palace Small hall Friday, 23.10 21:00

Splendid Palace Small hall Saturday, 24.10 18:00

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FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

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IN

KINO

VERITAS RETROSPECTIVE & RESEARCH With both eyes and a mind that are wide open, the festival looks at the history of cinema as well as the here and now as it gathers together the creative explorations of a wide range of talented and brave directors. Some have been erroneously overlooked, while others have become golden classics of cinema.

This year’s research is focused on a remarkable film movement of the 20th century – the Czechoslovak New Wave. These films spar-

kle with wit, creatively reveal ridiculousness to the bone, present the terrible and miserable that takes place at all levels of power, and masterfully highlight the constant surge of thoughts and feelings we experience and the multilayered meaning of everything around us. The restored film classics are complemented by a documentary on the most internationally renowned Czech film director.

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CURATOR’S GREETING

Pēteris Krilovs Guest curator, IN KINO VERITAS Director of film and theatre, performing arts educator

While in prison during the communist regime, Václav Havel, the Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident, politician, and first president of the independent Czech Republic (1993-2003), wrote in a 1980 letter to his beloved Olga: ‘Interestingly, in most of my dreams I act like a free person, although even while dreaming I realise that I am imprisoned...’

In reviewing, selecting and composing this programme featuring the most brilliant and significant films of 1960s Czechoslovakia, it was necessary to reexamine long-forgotten and set-aside thoughts about the nature of cinema. These thoughts had two nodes: a) the synthetic genesis of the cinematic arts; and (b) the dependence of cinema on the visual dominance of national archetypes. I apologise for using clever expressions and foreign words.

To my students I would say it more simply: a) cinema is art for the eyes, but you do not know why your eyes choose to see how they are seeing in this moment; and b) if you are a Latvian director, you will not do anything too drastic. In 95 cases out of 100, you will act as Latvian directors do.

We usually don’t have a full overview of the whole art world and its processes, and especially not for a country that is far away from one’s own. You need environmental context. You need the noise of life that influences art and envelops it with a sensory background.

One of the misconceptions that has become firmly established in interpreting the most vivid period of Czech films is the political context. There is a perception that the communist regime’s ‘period of thaw’ in Czechoslovakia that was peaceful, bourgeois and somewhat unpretentious led to the unleashing of all of the energy that had been held back in art – and as a result, masterpieces were created. But it wasn’t like that.

I would like to play the part of a gardener and gently pull this gorgeous plant up a little, so that you can see where the fine roots spread out underground.

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In my opinion, at one end is the vital humor of the Czechs and Slovaks, which for centuries stabilised the tolerance of these Central European nations towards other nations – the Germans, Poles, Jews, Austrians and Hungarians. Tolerance and humour created a special consistency of the soul that, with fantasy and substitution, could turn the heavy, even unbearable, invasion of reality into phantoms, dreams, surreal thickenings of experience, and anecdotes. After the most devastating fiasco of humanism that took place in World War I, which other nation could have produced Jaroslav Hašek, who wrote the hilarious farce of a soldier named Švejk? Or Josef Lada, Čapek, and even Kafka, who, with a smile on his face, walked the cobblestones of Prague while fully aware of the horrors that line human life? All of these men gradually trained us to open the world with the upside-down key of paradox.

The Czech theater, famous puppets and the Laterna magika; early cinema, animation, Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, who turns into an insect; the golem wandering through ancient Jewish cemeteries at night; and a calm, civil reverence for beer and plum liqueurs, firefighters and station attendants – these are strong antidotes against a communist ideology that is as severe and primitive as a train rail.

Furthermore, as an educator, my conscience does not allow me not to mention the importance of film education in the phenomenon of Czech and Slovak cinema. That would be FAMU, the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts, which in Prague became the ‘whetstone’ of professionalism on which most of the filmmakers featured in the festival’s programme honed their art – students, professors, and students who would go on to become educators.

IN KINO VERITAS

OPENING

Juraj Herz

THE CREMATOR SPALOVAČ MRTVOL Czechoslovakia, 1968, 95’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

On the way to the crematorium that looks like an oriental temple, there’s a kiosk where you can buy cream coffins and vanilla mourning wreaths. The crematorium’s manager, Karel Kopfrkingl, quotes the Tibetan Book of the Dead in a hypnotically melodic voice and liberates souls by turning the body into ashes in 75 minutes flat. The great German nation is promising great things for his ambitions…

The screenplay was developed by Herz together with the innovative author Ladislav Fuks, on whose novel it is based.

The film takes place in Prague before and after the 1938 Munich Agreement that ceded to Germany the German-inhabited Sudetenland, but which then led to the occupation of the whole of Czechoslovakia. This work with perfect aesthetic structure both attracts and repels, much

IN KINO VERITAS

like a narcissistic psyche or grand ideas that have devastating consequences.

With its surrealism, expressionism and the blackest of humour, not to mention being banned, this is mandatory viewing for those into multi-layered, unusual cinema.

Screenplay: Ladislav Fuks, Juraj Herz Cinematography: Stanislav Milota Cast: Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič Production: Ladislav Hanuš / FILMOVÉ STUDIO BARRANDOV Unique baroque cinema that surprises with the vibrancy of its black and white presence. The lead actor has played Švejk.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 14:00

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Vlastimil Venclík

THE UNINVITED GUEST NEZVANÝ HOST Czechoslovakia, 1969, 22’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

He knocks on a couple’s door at night and hauls in his suitcase. He knows what people are like, and he knows what is what; just don’t ask where he’s from.

Such are the times; accept it. At first the couple oppose the stranger, but it turns out that They are everywhere. They watch and report. This one is pretty nice, actually – he’ll be like a brother, a friend…

Venclík made this film while studying at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU). The initial idea was to make a humorous spoof of the Czech tendency to adapt to circumstances as a means of survival, much like J. Hašek’s comic literary hero, Švejk, does. But this film was made just one year after the Prague Spring – the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia – and the work was seen as an insurgency against the ruling regime. Venclík was subsequently expelled from the academy, which basically ruined his career, and The Uninvited Guest remained in the State Security archives only because it had been labeled as an inconsequential item.

Screenplay: Vlastimil Venclík Cinematography: Tomáš Procházka Cast: Iva Šašková, Jiří Hálek, Pavel Landovský, Václav Kotva Production: Martina Liskova / STUDIO FAMU

Pavel Juráček, Jan Schmidt

Helena Třeštíková, Jakub Hejna

JOSEF KILIÁN

FORMAN VS. FORMAN

POSTAVA K PODPÍRÁNÍ Czechoslovakia, 1963, 38’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

CZ, 2019, 77’, cs/en/fr For audiences age 16 and up

Sunny old Prague. The crossroads of two cobbled streets – to the right, a line of children speedily walks by under their teachers’ escort; to the left, a column of soldiers marches by; to the right, two white horses pulling a hearse wagon lead a slow-moving funeral procession… Looking upwards instead of at this disciplined movement, stands a stately man. Soon he will understand nothing. Neither how to find Josef Kilián – to inform him about someone’s death, nor how to get a certificate indicating that he has unsuccessfully tried to return a rented cat.

A layered portrait of the most famous Czech filmmaker and exceptionally charismatic storyteller who passed away in 2018. This is his life path as if seen through his own eyes. Despite the great doubts that were always present, he had to project confidence. The film reveals his wounded soul in childhood, his searching, fumbling, losses, and discoveries. The theme that stayed with him all his life was the individual freedom against the rigidity of the society. In 1968, the representative of Czech New Wave moved from Czechoslovakia to the USA.

A satirical allegory of the submissive powerlessness of the individual in an authoritarian bureaucratic society. An absurd atmosphere that suggests a strong Kafkaesque influence. Yet P. Juráček, the film’s screenwriter and director, who above all else wanted to be a writer, had not yet read neither The Castle nor The Trial. He sought to create an original world, not a copy of it.

The authors of this documentary have collected rare private and official archive materials, magazine and news sources, as well as excerpts from Forman’s films and scenes from their making. The narrator’s text is partially inspired by the autobiography of the great master and it is voiced by Petr Forman – actor and Miloš Forman’s son.

Screenplay: Pavel Jurácek, Jan Schmidt Cinematography: Jan Čuřík Cast: Karel Vašíček, Consuela Morávková, Ivan Růžička, Pavel Bártl Production: Miloš Bergl / FILMOVÉ STUDIO BARRANDOV

Film as parable, fairy tale, fable. An accurate and angry political tract made in film school under political terror.

The spirit of Kafka and painful absurdity reincarnated in a seemingly simple plot and language. Made by a free-thinker.

Screening with Josef Kilián.

Screening with The Uninvited Guest.

Splendid Palace Small hall Sunday, 18.10 16:30

Splendid Palace Small hall Sunday, 18.10 16:30

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Screenplay: Helena Třeštíková Cinematography: David Cysař Cast: Milos Forman Production: Kateřina Černá / NEGATIV / ČESKÁ TELEVIZE, ARTE G.E.I.E, ALEGRIA PRODUCTIONS

Proof of unity in Czech cinema’s different landscapes. Forman is the Gaiziņkalns of Czech cinema; no, the Mont Blanc.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 18:00

IN KINO VERITAS

Jan Němec

Miloš Forman

DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT

THE FIREMEN’S BALL

DÉMANTY NOCI

HORÍ, MÁ PANENKO

Czechoslovakia, 1964, 67’, de/cs For audiences age 16 and up

Czechoslovakia, 1967, 73’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

The clear sound of a ringing bell is interrupted by silence and rumbling tracks.

Having escaped from a train taking them to a concentration camp, two physically and mentally exhausted young men seek refuge – in the present, in the past, in their imagination, and in dreams. Upon leaving the forest, they meet locals of Sudetenland who alleviate their thirst and hunger, but also hunt down and capture them…

One snowy February a small-town annual volunteer firemen’s ball is announced – with music, dancing, a raffle, a beauty pageant, and a special award. Everything is going well until it doesn’t…

Němec’s feature debut is an adaptation of the autobiographical story Darkness Casts No Shadow by Arnošt Lustig.

Němec called his style ‘oneiric realism’ – marked by dreamlike visual composition, minimal dialogue, and silence as a dramatic element. In this way the viewer receives the message without temptation to compare what is going on in the film with reality. Němec made all his films in a hurry, fearing that he would not be allowed to finish them; he considered it ‘the obligation of every thinking person to attack obstacles to freedom in every way at his disposal’.

Screenplay: Jan Němec, Arnošt Lustig Cinematography: Jaroslav Kučera, Miroslav Ondříček Cast: Ladislav Janský, Antonín Kumbera, Ilse Bischofová, Ivan Asič Production: Miloš Bergl / ČESKOSLOVENSKÝ FILMEXPORT A manifesto of cinematic visuality: makes one forget plot narrative and playfully draws into the myth of existentialism.

Splendid Palace Small hall Thursday, 22.10 16:30

A playful comedy that unfolds into a tragic farce. There is no shortage of people with dim wits, sticky fingers, and little shame. Miloš Forman himself said in a 1970 interview: ‘This is a problem for all governments, for all committees.

That they try and they pretend and they announce that they are preparing a happy, gay, amusing evening or life for the people. And everybody has the best intentions… But suddenly things turn out in such a catastrophic way that, for me, this is a vision of what’s going on today in the world.’ This film can be interpreted in various ways, including as political commentary, and in 1973 the communist regime ‘banned it forever’.

Screenplay: Miloš Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek, Ivan Passer, Václav Šašek Cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček Cast: Jan Vostrcil, Josef Šebánek, František Reinstein, František Paska Production: Rudolf Hájek / FILMOVÉ STUDIO BARRANDOV, CARLO PONTI CINEMATOGRAFICA

Ivan Passer

INTIMATE LIGHTING INTIMNÍ OSVĚTLENÍ Czechoslovakia, 1965, 73’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

A group of small-town musicians are preparing to play Dvořák’s concert for cello and orchestra. A long-unseen friend of the director of the local music school has agreed to play the solo. Middle-aged and disappointed in life, the two men’s reunion develops into an intention to flee… Until Sunday morning arrives as stiff as the thick eggnog that won’t drain into your mouth – but just have ‘a little patience, and it will be good’.

This melancholic comedy is an insightful and ironically poetic observation. Passer himself has said that the Czechoslovak cinema of the time was ‘a statement of the fact that as individuals and as a society, we are in a state of permanent crisis’. This was his first feature film. Miloš Forman persuaded Passer to give his wife, Vera Křesadlová, the role of Štěpa, whereas Passer himself enlisted music instructor Karel Blažek, who was reluctant at first, for the lead. Sadly, Blažek died of leukemia soon after filming.

Screenplay: Jaroslav Papoušek, Václav Šašek, Ivan Passer Cinematography: Josef Střecha, Miroslav Ondříček Cast: Karel Blažek, Zdeněk Bezušek, Věra Křesadlová, Jan Vostrčil Production: Jiří Šebor, Vladimír Bor / FILMOVÉ STUDIO BARRANDOV

A cinematic masterpiece with a philosophical view of society approaching the works of Hieronymus Bosch and Erasmus.

The characters are viewed under subtle, intimate magnification – as in great prose. Has a French New Wave influence.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Friday, 23.10 17:00

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 25.10 16:00

IN KINO VERITAS

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FESTIVAL

SELECTION HIGHLIGHTS OF FILM FESTIVALS An innovative selection of films removed from the traditional slumbers of European and world film festivals. These are films from Venice to the bastions of Toronto cinema – an imposing, captivating parade of auteur cinema. Films as unquestionable cinematic facts that have been noticed and recognised by industry professionals. They have already earned (or have the potential to receive) prestigious jury awards, but also have what it takes to make their mark in the history of cinema.

The 13 works in RIGA IFF SELECTION can be viewed as puzzle pieces. This is how one of the crowning glories of the programme

can be perceived – the reconstruction of the totalitarian past and Soviet culture in Ilya Khrzhanovsky and Jekaterina Oertel’s DAU. Natasha. This is one of the dozens of works of the DAU project that went on for many years – a separate world of concrete walls that lead an independent life.

At the same time, this work, just like the other films in the programme, will lead one to the conclusion that the world (read – cinema) no longer writes in a linear order. These worlds can complement, exclude, and feud with one another, but they cannot do it without the others.

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Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Jekaterina Oertel

DAU. NATASHA

DE/UA/GB/RU, 2020, 139’, ru/uk/en For audiences age 18 and up

Running a canteen at a secret Soviet research institute, Natasha veils her private sorrows with a waspish attitude and heartfelt toasts to love. Those who come are preoccupied with non-linear notions of the world, while her only concern is to feed them. If a glass is empty, it must be filled – with wine, champagne, or cognac.

A wild night between the sheets with a French scientist is followed by an offer from the KGB that is as unrefusable and cruel as the times.

DAU, a multimedia project dedicated to Nobel laureate Lev Landau, was a fictional historical reconstruction in a sealed territory filled with ghosts of the past. This internationally unique and scandalous art experiment is a field ripe for the study of slavish and subhuman mentalities created within totalitarian regimes. Cinematographer Jürgen Jürges, who has worked with R. W. Fassbinder, Michael Haneke, and Wim Wenders, imparts the film with superior artistic quality. Natasha is the first feature film to emerge from the project.

Screenplay: Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Jekaterina Oertel Cinematography: Jürgen Jürges Cast: Natalia Berezhnaya, Olga Shkabarnya, Vladimir Azhippo, Alexei Blinov Production: Sergey Adonyev / PHENOMEN BERLIN FILMPRODUKTION A fragment of an unusually ambitious film project – a shocking bookmark of the totalitarian experience.

Splendid Palace Large hall Friday, 16.10 21:00

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Agnieszka Holland

Pietro Marcello

CHARLATAN

MARTIN EDEN

ŠARLATÁN

IT/FR/DE, 2019, 129’, it/fr For audiences age 16 and up

CZ/IE/PL/SK, 2020, 118’, cs For audiences age 16 and up

Mikolášek, a Czech healer and medicinal plant expert, has spent years saving countless people. At the same time, he fights his demons that gnaw at his conscience and sow misery. Every day patients wait in line at his clinic, and as eras pass, his unusual abilities are appreciated by both Nazi and communist authorities.

However, after WWII, this mysterious man is too famous, wealthy and independent for the regime to tolerate for long.

A historical drama that explores and interprets the complex destiny and personality of Jan Mikolášek (1889–1973). When facing death, there is nothing unusual in cowardice, betrayal, and wickedness rearing their heads... The strong emotions evoked by this film can only be tempered by the realization that one must deal with one’s death throughout life.

Screenplay: Marek Epstein Cinematography: Martin Štrba Cast: Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj, Jaroslava Pokorná Production: Šárka Cimbalová, Kevan Van Thompson / MARLENE FILM PRODUCTION / F&ME, MADANTS, FURIA FILM, CZECH TELEVISION, RTVS, BARRANDOV STUDIO, FURIA FILM, STUDIO MÉTRAGE, CERTICON, MAGICLAB

An empathetic love story of Soviet queers, made by a master of Eastern European socio-political cinema.

Splendid Palace Large hall Saturday, 17.10 16:30 Saturday, 24.10 21:00

A beautiful summer morning in the port city Naples turns out fateful for the young sailor Martin Eden. His beloved comes from an aristocratic family, which motivates the impoverished young man to educate himself in culture and literature so that he can become a writer – one of the eyes through which the world sees itself. Love, Baudelaire’s poetry, Herbert Spencer’s political philosophy, as well as his own spite and personal charm, land Eden a place among the elite... eventually leading to bitter disappointments that strip all value from everything he has achieved.

Loosely based upon Jack London’s 1909 iconic American novel, the film takes place in a period that encompasses the key distinctive passions, cultural aspects, and emerging ideas of 20th-century Europe via a magnetic collage of images and sound.

Screenplay: Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello Cinematography: Francesco Di Giacomo, Alessandro Abate Cast: Luca Marinelli, Jessica Cressy, Vincenzo Nemolato, Carlo Cecchi Production: Pietro Marcello, Beppe Caschetto, Thomas Ordonneau, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen / AVVENTUROSA, IBC MOVIE, RAI CINEMA / SHELLAC SUD, MATCH FACTORY PRODUCTIONS Jack London’s character is recast into Italy’s class conflict and reborn in a stylised form of impressionist cinema.

Splendid Palace Large hall Saturday, 17.10 19:00

FESTIVAL SELECTION

Billie Piper

Uberto Pasolini

GB, 2019, 92’, en For audiences age 16 and up

IT/RO/GB, 2020, 96’, en For audiences age 16 and up

He actually hates them – women these days have got more testosterone coursing through their veins than blood. She tries to keep up with today’s standards and to hide her personal dramas behind a fake smile and nihilistic mannerisms. Even despair must be healed in a progressive way, for example, with ‘emotional freedom techniques’ – muttering positive affirmations and accessing your body’s energy by physically tapping your ‘meridian points’. When practically everyone is taking on too much and expecting too much from others, the possibility of a beautiful love story evaporates into quaintness.

A young man raises his four-year-old son alone. The father will soon have to leave, but until then he has to gather strong building blocks for life with which his child will have to support himself. Finding a new home for the boy is not all that easy. The closer the moment of separation, the greater his doubts – how can he evaluate strangers in one short meeting?

How can he protect his loved one? He will have to make the most important decision in their lives.

RARE BEASTS

NOWHERE SPECIAL

A challenging comedy containing countless shades of black. Billie Piper, the film’s director, screenwriter and protagonist, wanted to ruthlessly expose via a texture of the surreal the forces that can shatter a woman in this period of history – a time unprecedented in terms of ample liberalism and opportunity.

Screenplay: Billie Piper Cinematography: Patrick Meller Cast: Billie Piper, Leo Bill, Kerry Fox, Toby Woolf Production: Vaughan Sivell / WESTERN EDGE PICTURES / MOFFEN MEDIA, 42MP, GREAT POINT MEDIA, WARRIOR FILM PRODUCTIONS, FIELDS PARK A dizzying cocktail of the small joys in life, everyday despair, incense, and cocaine.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 21:30

A film about the importance of childhood and the value of families. Although the drama of the situation is distressing, the melodrama and sentimental notes are so muted that the viewer enters a room full of light and hope, where the unimportant no longer has any opportunity to overshadow the really important.

Screenplay: Uberto Pasolini Cinematography: Marius Panduru Cast: James Norton, Daniel Lamont, Eileen O’Higgins Production: Roberto Sessa, Uberto Pasolini, Cristian Nicolescu / PICOMEDIA, RED WAVE FILMS - NOWHERE SPECIAL, DIGITAL CUBE Pasolini continues to study the subtle structure of sorrow and talks about the eternal in the mundane.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 19:30 Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 24.10 20:30

FESTIVAL SELECTION

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Matthew Rankin

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CA, 2019, 90’, en/fr For audiences age 16 and up

Obsessions and confusion at the dawn of an extreme age, as documented by a young politician in his diary. William Lyon Mackenzie King has been chosen by fate, as well as groomed by his clairvoyant and migraine-suffering mummy, to become Prime Minister of Canada – for the good of Charlotte, lying in the hospital for defective children and exhausted by tuberculosis, and for defective Canadians everywhere. Success is as ‘sure as a winter day in springtime’! But he must beat the other candidates in a series of tests: ribbon cutting, urinating their signatures, butter churning, baby seal clubbing…

Hopefully, his cactus that ejaculates into the corner of the room will not be the cause of his downfall, not to mention the torment of love, accompanied by harp music.

A grand comedy in terms of theatrical buildup and virtuosity of language, and clearly inspired by Guy Maddin, Monty Python, Victorian anti-masturbation propaganda, and reflections on the formation of a nation.

Screenplay: Matthew Rankin Cinematography: Vincent Biron Cast: Dan Beirne, Mikhaïl Ahooja, Catherine Saint-Laurent, Sarianne Cormier Production: Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette, Ménaïc Raoul / VOYELLES FILMS

Grégory Monro

Zheng Lu Xinyuan

KUBRICK PAR KUBRICK

她房间里的云

FR/PL, 2020, 72’, en/fr For audiences age 16 and up

HK/CN, 2020, 101’, zh/en For audiences age 16 and up

A man admired by many, he lives in the countryside with his wife Christiane, three daughters, dogs and cats. He spends his time working, playing chess and reading, avoids giving interviews, and thinks about the dual nature of man, in which altruism and cooperation coexist with xenophobia and aggression. According to him, many 20th century failures in art have been determined by an absolute obsession with originality – ‘innovation means moving it forward, but not abandoning classic form’.

Having made 13 feature films, one of the greatest and most controversial filmmakers dies in his sleep in early spring.

A young woman’s visual diary. It features dear strangers who have given meaning to life. One damp winter she returns to her hometown after a long absence to celebrate Chinese New Year. In this now unfamiliar environment she is daughter, half-sister, lover. She looks for a sense of belonging in what she once called her home, but it is futile because the past is gone, everything has changed, and things are still constantly changing. The flat of her childhood is now abandoned – but there is a bed, a chair, and a window falling off its hinges in her room. It seems that she is the only one who still cares about it. Her parents are divorced. Her father is a musician and has a new family now. Her mother has her friends, alcohol, and cigarettes…

KUBRICK BY KUBRICK

THE CLOUD IN HER ROOM

The documentary is shaped by Stanley Kubrick’s (1928–1999) reflections on the connection between the conscious and the unconscious, art, filmmaking, and humanity – as preserved in audio recordings of his conversations with French film historian Michel Ciment. Archival footage of actors who have experienced working with the director has also been used.

Screenplay: Grégory Monro Cinematography: Radosław Ładczuk Cast: Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell, Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall Production: Jérémy Zelnik, Martin Laurent / ARTE, TELEMARK, TEMPS NOIR

The century is not over. One of its initial versions is political theatre with little potential and big ideas.

A rare opportunity to hear Kubrick and see what he has always disdained – explaining his films.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 21:30

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Monday, 19.10 21:30

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An unusually textured film in which the past and present mingle with imagination and urban dreams. A melancholic message about the director’s generation, as well as growth and loneliness, based on personal experience.

Screenplay: Zheng Lu Xinyuan Cinematography: Matthias Delvaux Cast: Jin Jing, Liu Dan, Chen Zhou, Ye Hongming Production: Wang Zijian / BLACKFIN PRODUCTION

A black and white serenade for a city, sung in a karaoke bar.

Splendid Palace Large hall Tuesday, 20.10 21:00

FESTIVAL SELECTION

Cristi Puiu

Carlo S. Hintermann

MALMKROG

THE BOOK OF VISION

RO/RS/CH/SE/BA/MK, 2020, 201’, fr/ru/de/hu For audiences age 16 and up

IT/GB/BE, 2020, 95’, en For audiences age 16 and up

Sitting around a table set for a feast in a manor house nestled in the snowy Transylvanian mountains, guests engage in an increasingly passionate exchange of ideas on subjects such as good and evil, progress and morals, and even death and the Antichrist. Worrisome sounds are heard coming from other rooms.

Cristi Puiu has based this film on the literary work Three Conversations by Vladimir Solovjov (1853-1900), the most influential Russian philosopher, theologian and mystic of the 19th century. The work foretells the coming of great turmoil and exposes the deceptive face that hides the abyss of evil.

Screenplay: Cristi Puiu Cinematography: Tudor Panduru Cast: Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaité, Marina Palii Production: Anca Puiu, Smaranda Puiu / MANDRAGORA, IADASARECASA / SENSE PRODUCTION, CINNAMON FILMS, BORD CADRE FILMS, DOPPELGANGER, FILM I VÄST, TROLLHÄTTAN, PRODUKCIJA 2006 SARAJEVO, SISTERS AND BROTHERS MITEVSKI

A young doctor turns to the medical history of the 18th century – she wants to understand when and why doctors stopped listening to patients. She herself has become a patient whose intuition does not match her given prognosis. At one time, doctors did not even have to touch people because they believed that it is the soul that affects the body. What if death is only a veil of smoke that can be lifted to be with the loved ones again?

What if no one really dies, and they are just reaching towards a new vision?

Screenwriter and director Carlo S. Hintermann is also a musician, composer and film critic. He has always been tempted by the opportunity to travel through time. The executive producer of the film is renowned American director Terrence Malick.

Screenplay: Carlo S. Hintermann, Marco Saura Cinematography: Jörg Widmer Cast: Charles Dance, Lotte Verbeek, Sverrir Gudnason, Isolda Dychauk Production: Gerardo Panichi, Robin Monotti Graziadei, Vera Graziadei, Sébastien Delloye / CITRULLO INTERNATIONAL, LUMINOUS ARTS PRODUCTIONS, ENTRE CHIEN ET LOUP, RAI CINEMA / SHELTER PROD

Romanian New Wave ideologue Puiu waits for the Antichrist. And he is awaited with a dispute that is radical for cinema.

A walk in a lightly haunted forest in which the pulsation of life has taken on an almost physical form.

Splendid Palace Large hall Wednesday, 21.10 20:00

Splendid Palace Large hall Friday, 23.10 19:00

FESTIVAL SELECTION

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31

Karim Aïnouz

INVISIBLE LIFE A VIDA INVISÍVEL BR/DE, 2019, 139’, pt For audiences age 16 and up

‘When I play, I disappear,’ says Eurídice, whose dream of the Vienna Conservatory is destroyed by the men of the family. If only she could find the person closest to her, her sister Guida… Entranced by love on a sultry night, she ran away with a Greek sailor. The sisters’ painful longing for each other is as powerful and beautiful as the blinding blue skies of the Rio de Janeiro coast, the rustling of the rainforests, and the depths of the ocean.

Grievously, fate chooses to separate the sisters for life.

An emotionally saturated and sensual melodrama, the film was awarded the Prix un Certain Regard at Cannes, and was Brazil’s entry for the Oscars. Unless your heart is made of stone, Estranha Forma de Vida, sung by legendary fado queen Amália Rodrigues and played over the end credits, will stay with you long after you’ve left the cinema.

Screenplay: Murilo Hauser, Inés Bortagaray, Karim Aïnouz Cinematography: Hélène Louvart Cast: Carol Duarte, Júlia Stockler, Gregório Duvivier, Bárbara Santos Production: Rodrigo Teixeira, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen / RT FEATURES, POLA PANDORA, SONY PICTURES, CANAL BRASIL, NAYMAR

The fate of two sisters is forced by the patriarchy. The elegy is shaken off and lived. Finely crafted cinema.

Splendid Palace Large hall Friday, 23.10 21:00

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Caetano Gotardo, Marco Dutra

ALL THE DEAD ONES

Ivan Ostrochovský

SERVANTS SLUŽOBNÍCI

TODOS OS MORTOS

SK/RO/CZ/IE, 2020, 80’, sk For audiences age 16 and up

BR/FR, 2020, 120’, pt For audiences age 16 and up

Brazil, late 19th century. The Soares family once owned a coffee plantation, but their way of life has abruptly changed since the abolition of slavery – the mother and two daughters now live in São Paulo, while the father has gone to work on their former property, now owned by others.

Neither the three women nor the freed slaves feel quite right in a world where euphoria reigns over the falling of the old order and the modernisation taking place.

The directors wanted to look back on history to understand how the country acquired its current features – a political system that remains very favourable to the elite and that fails to diminish the social inequality gap. The plot of the film revolves around three important national holidays – Independence Day, Day of the Dead, and Carnival. In turn, three women portray three different attitudes towards the loss of their accustomed haven of trust, hope and privilege.

Screenplay: Caetano Gotardo, Marco Dutra Cinematography: Hélène Louvart Cast: Mawusi Tulani, Clarissa Kiste, Carolina Bianchi, Thaia Perez Production: Maria Ionescu, Sara Silveira, Clément Duboin, Florence Cohen / DEZENOVE SOM E IMAGENS, GOOD FORTUNE FILMS

It’s the early 1980s in Czechoslovakia. Two students arrive at the Catholic theological seminary in Bratislava. The Communist Party has set up the organisation Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) to oversee what is happening in the Church.

Every clergyman, including both young men, has to make a choice now.

The director’s chilling message here is that we all serve some ideology or other.

Whether we are aware of it or not, various powers – politics, religion, wealth, poverty... – guide us and inevitably transform our values and attitudes. There can be hidden traps.

Screenplay: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Leščák, Ivan Ostrochovský Cinematography: Juraj Chlpík Cast: Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovič, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko Production: Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský, Katarína Tomková / PUNKCHART FILMS / POINT FILM, RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SLOVAKIA, NEGATIV, FILM AND MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, LIBRA FILM PRODUCTIONS, HAI HUI ENTERTAINMENT, SENTIMENTALFILM

A monument to slow cinema in which the echoes of social injustice, politics and feminism form a magical lullaby.

All believe in something: the clergy, the Soviet ruling class, even filmmakers, serving at the altar of mise-en-scène.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 24.10 18:30

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 25.10 14:00

FESTIVAL SELECTION

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ORDIC

HIGHLIGHTS CINEMATIC ACCENTS OF NORDIC COUNTRIES The geospatial peaks of Northern European cinema. This region has often been attributed with the characteristics of moraine cliffs; these clusters of rocks were formed by glaciers, as if creating a mirror image of societies. In the bright, white, white light of this cinematic panorama, this year we can see relationships in society, in families, and between parents and children, as well as the relationships between fellow human beings in their darkest, most unexpected and contradictory aspects.

A ‘reverse’ of an Ingmar Bergman film will be screened this year – the melodrama Loving Couples by director Mai Zetterling. Slowly, with reverence for tolerance, it distorts the modern-day viewer’s perception of Swedish cinema and what, ultimately, Nordic cinema is. It is destined to be a stepping out of the usual repertoire: a person finding shelter in Nature; the captured, who, at the same time, fights with their inner nature; and in the cinema, there are psychological illuminations.

At the same time, it is a space for the viewer to learn the grammar of Nordic cinema and the creative attributes of the most important filmmakers working in this diverse area. Topographically, it goes along the Gulf of Finland to the Greenland Sea, with cinematic rivulets combining and flowing into Riga.

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS has been developed in co-operation with the embassies of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, as well as with the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia and the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

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NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

OPENING

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NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

Ragnar Bragason

THE GARDEN GULLREGN IS/PL, 2020, 115’, is For audiences age 16 and up On the terrace of a Reykjavík apartment building there’s a picturesque garden surrounding a laburnum tree. The owner has created her cozy world here with a bevy of plants and knickknacks, her own ‘throne’ in the centre, supplemented by annual trips to the Andalusian coast and her unwillingness to cut the emotional umbilical cord to her 39-year-old son.

Suddenly, as in a coordinated attack, the foreign neighbours pound on the piano, the Ministry of Environment makes a dramatic decision, her son puts an end to her long-term welfare fraud, and he even gets himself a Polish girlfriend.

A black, sharp yet sincere comedy based on Bragason’s own play in which he removes, one after the other, mosaic pieces from an old bureau with countless drawers... Even up to the most stuck drawer of all – xenophobia is commonly condemned, not studied, however, what if this trait is not rooted in irrational fears or arrogant evil, but in your very creation – and it’s what is holding you together as a person?

Screenplay: Ragnar Bragason Cinematography: Árni Filippusson Cast: Sigrún Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Hallgrimur Ólafsson, Karolina Gruszka Production: Davíd Óskar Ólafsson / MYSTERY PRODUCTIONS / MADANTS Can a comedy be too black? In the shade of a golden chain tree, it’s hard to tell if it’s a family celebration or war.

Splendid Palace Large hall Friday, 16.10 18:00

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

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Louise Detlefsen, Louise Unmack Kjeldsen

FAT FRONT

DK, 2019, 87’, da/no/sv/en For audiences age 16 and up

‘World! Can you hear me? I am fat!’ – is a message from four young women tired of spending years hating and shaming themselves. They want to free others from avoiding the word ‘fat’ as well – simply because it’s a fact. They all are accused of promoting an unhealthy lifestyle, but are increasingly gaining followers on social networks who appreciate the mutual support and also long for the public’s change in attitude.

A factual insight behind the scenes of the body positivity movement, full of both humour and sad reflection, in which activists from Nordic countries inspire women’s uprising against generally accepted body standards and the accompanying public pressure. The film’s Danish directors have joined the feminist struggle, advocating for natural bodies as a value from both an artistic and political point of view.

Screenplay: Louise Detlefsen, Louise Unmack Kjeldsen Cinematography: Sine Vadstrup Brooker Cast: Helene Thyrsted, Wilde Siem, Marte Nymann, Pauline Lindborg Production: Malene Flindt Pedersen / HANSEN & PEDERSEN FILM OG FJERNSYN / AUTO IMAGES, MEDIEOPERATØRERNE AS Social networks and a global arena – it’s the end of 90-60-90! A documentary collage of rebellion that should be heard.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Friday, 16.10 20:30 Sunday, 25.10 18:00

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Mai Zetterling

LOVING COUPLES ÄLSKANDE PAR

Boris Benjamin Bertram

PHOTOGRAPHER OF WAR KRIGSFOTOGRAFEN

SE, 1964, 118’, sv For audiences age 16 and up

DK/FI, 2019, 78’, da/en/ar For audiences age 16 and up

In the early 1900s, three pregnant women arrive at a birthing clinic, all three finding themselves in undesirable circumstances.

One is in a loveless marriage; one is being forced by her child’s father to marry his friend, a gay man, if she is to receive any support from him; and the third cannot get her lover to admit paternity.

‘Thirty seconds of passion can lead to thirty years of hell. One should be wary of women,’ even jokes the women’s doctor on the dangers of women who entrap men by getting pregnant.

This debut feature film of the legendary director and actress Mai Zetterling (1925– 1994) is based upon The Misses von Pahlen (Fröknarna von Pahlen, 1930–35)

by Agnes von Krusenstjerna, once likened to the works of Proust – in addition to having aroused heated debate on sexual freedom, freedom of speech, moral standards, and women’s rights.

Screenplay: David Hughes, Mai Zetterling Cinematography: Sven Nykvist Cast: Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom, Gio Petré, Anita Björk Production: Göran Lindgren, Rune Waldekranz / SANDREW FILM & TEATER AB

The bright, two-storey flat in Copenhagen’s upscale Østerbro district is far from the planet’s hotspots. It holds Jan Grarup’s photo studio and old-fashioned camera, Danish everyday life goes on here, but somewhere between the dollhouse and the aquarium a bulletproof vest waits to be worn... Grarup has challenged fate for more than 25 years.

Nevertheless, the human mind tends to be the riskiest area of all.

Psychological portrait of a unique artist. Jan Grarup is an influential and award-winning war photojournalist as well as an author and lecturer. His black and white photos starkly reveal human nature, its suffering, and the hope within despair.

The depth and aesthetic of his work frees the viewer from the illusion of a safe haven as it raises questions that have no easy answers.

Screenplay: Boris Benjamin Bertram Cinematography: Boris Benjamin Bertram, Henrik Ipsen, Thøger Kappel, Tony Lauge Madsen, Adam Morris Philp, Marcel Zyskind Cast: Jan Grarup, Viola Walsøe Grarup, Elias Sekjær Grarup, Marikka Sekjær Grarup Production: Katrine A. Sahlstrøm / GOOD COMPANY PICTURES / AVANTON PRODUCTIONS

Mai Zetterling talks about the things we don’t say out loud. If Bergman were a woman, would his films be like this?

Between bullet shots and camera shots, unflattering truths about people are exposed; they are all black and white.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 13:30

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 16:00

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

Maria Sødahl

Dag Johan Haugerud

HOPE

BEWARE OF CHILDREN

HÅP

BARN

NO/SE, 2019, 126’, no/sv For audiences age 16 and up

NO/SE, 2019, 157’, no For audiences age 16 and up

A creative couple raising their three children and three from a previous relationship are preparing for Christmas. It must be one to remember, because the children’s mother has received a horrifying diagnosis. The next step is to make it three in one – a birthday party, a New Year’s Eve celebration, and a 20-year-delayed marriage ceremony. She smiles at that: ‘I will only have to be remembered once a year, and with fireworks!’

Everything is held together by a thin thread of hope and the ability to put right what has been neglected – through pain, regret and despair.

‘This is my story as I remember it,’ states the director of the autobiographical film.

Turning 11 days of her life into a cinematic story, she invites the viewer to evaluate the choices made and exposes the destructive forces of self-sufficiency in relationships. As true love means accepting interdependence; everything else seems destructive and meaningless. All of the health professionals in the film are real.

Screenplay: Maria Sødahl Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro Cast: Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan Skarsgård Production: Thomas Robsahm / MOTLYS AS / OSLO PICTURES, ZENTROPA INTERNATIONAL SWEDEN, FILM I VÄST Cinema as therapy or therapy as cinema – does the sequence matter? Experience, and hope that should be passed on.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 20:30

Along with the gusts of autumn, turmoil blusters into a school on the outskirts of Oslo. The 13-year-old daughter of a prominent Labour party member and left-wing newspaper journalist fatally injures her smart and sporty classmate by hitting him with her bag. The boy’s father is a high profile right-wing politician for whom ‘even the most determined feminists fall for’, including the school’s principal. The principal’s gay brother, a Norwegian language teacher, did not notice the quarrel between the two children as he was engaged by a new student teacher at the moment. Everyone feels what they feel. Another question is how not to make everything worse with one’s words and actions... because life goes on.

Firmly and daringly, but without moralizing, the director focuses on how social class and political views affect language and behaviour. How people perceive and misunderstand each other. How schools need to balance the conflicting interests of children, parents and ideologists.

Screenplay: Dag Johan Haugerud Cinematography: Øystein Mamen Cast: Henriette Steenstrup, Jan Gunnar Røise, Thorbjørn Harr, Andrea Bræin Hovig Production: Yngve Sæther / MOTLYS AS / PLATTFORM PRODUKTION, FILM I VÄST

The illusion of peace and order is one of the strongest and most deceptive.

Splendid Palace Small hall Sunday, 18.10 13:30

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

Michael Noer

BEFORE THE FROST FØR FROSTEN DK, 2018, 104’, da/sv For audiences age 16 and up

Denmark, 1850. The old freeholder Jens is in despair. His strength is draining, the harvest is soaked in autumn rains, there’s barely enough food to feed the small family, and worst of all – in church he is asked to move to a pew further from the altar. If the neighbour boy married Jens’ daughter Signe, the winter would be easier for both families to pass. Except in that case, his dead sister’s sons would have to go away – quite possibly to the poorhouse. To save all his dearest ones, Jens makes a secret deal with a wealthy widower from Sweden.

When you are honoured in the whole parish, wear a hat instead of a shabby cap, and your only daughter no longer goes hungry while caring for cows but instead wears a fancy dress while playing Chopin preludes on the piano, your heavy heart is unexpectedly relieved from the knowledge that what you have gained has been worth the unthinkable sacrifice.

Screenplay: Michael Noer, Jesper Fink Cinematography: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen Cast: Jesper Christensen, Clara Rosager, Ghita Nørby, Elliott Crosset Hove Production: Matilda Appelin, René Ezra, Tomas Radoor / NORDISK FILM PRODUCTION

The bloodline of Northern European history – the landowners and the landless.

What is the value of life here?

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 20:30

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Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir

THE VASULKA EFFECT EFEKT VAŠULKA CZ/IS, 2019, 87’, is/en/cs For audiences age 16 and up

A documentary double portrait of Steina (Steinunn) and Woody (Bohuslav) Vasulka, the legendary video-art trailblazers and galvanisers who also envisioned the huge potential of the media space. The young couple first met in Prague, where Woody, a Czech, proposed to Steina, an Icelander, on their first encounter: ‘Take me as your husband and get me out of here.’

In 1965, they emigrated to the US. In an artistically liberated environment, the Vasulkas worked together with talented people (Andy Warhol, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson) and devoted themselves to experimental cinema, video, digital technologies and sound.

Although both artists did not lose their innovative spark and creativity until reaching old age, they managed to recover from obscurity and financial hardship only during the four years of the making of this film. The contribution of the Vasulkas and the legacy they left behind is currently being properly appreciated. Woody Vasulka passed away on Dec. 20, 2019.

Screenplay: Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir Cinematography: Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, Arnar Thór Thórisson Cast: Steina Vasulka, Woody Vasulka Production: Margrét Jónasdóttir, Radim Procházka / SAGAFILM, KRUMMA FILMS / PRODUKCE RADIM PROCHÁZKA, BULLITT FILM, NONAMI Nitrate film burns hot and bright – the future belongs to the Vasulkas and video art.

Splendid Palace Small hall Monday, 19.10 16:00

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Karin Swanström

Jenni Toivoniemi

GIRL IN TAILS

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

FLICKAN I FRACK

SEURAPELI

SE, 1926, 121’ For audiences age 16 and up

FI, 2020, 117’, fi/en/sv For audiences age 16 and up

Katja Kock is by no means ugly – she just chooses to dress like a shabby washerwoman because her eccentric father refuses her brother nothing, while her needs are left ignored. She’s finally had enough, so she heads to the school graduation dance wearing her brother’s tailcoat, even being as bold as to smoke a cigar and partake in brandy. Rebellious Katja may be engaged to a nobleman, but the people of her small town are not ready to accept this kind of behaviour.

This sparkling comedy in seven acts is one of the top films of Sweden’s silent film era, and director Karin Swanström’s (1873-1942) last feature film. Some local girls here ‘behave with an audacity worse than that of the Renaissance’. Swanström became the most influential woman in the country’s film industry.

Screenplay: Hjalmar Bergman, Ivar Johansson Cinematography: Ragnar Westfelt Cast: Einar Axelsson, Magda Holm, Nils Arehn, Georg Blomstedt Production: AB BIOGRAFERNAS FILMDEPÔT

Ballroom etiquette can seal your fate.

Gender identity as a hot potato almost a hundred years ago.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Monday, 19.10 18:00

Old friends come together for a surprise party on an island – they do this every ten years, even though the birthday girl isn’t in the mood for partying. Their carefree, traditional activities in the idyllic setting can no longer hide that even the weather vane on the old house is falling apart and, as middle age approaches, issues from the past painfully reappear. Then comes the moment of awareness – youth is fading as quickly and scarily as the sun at sunset, and the red skies could even be the blaze coming from an explosion at the nearby nuclear power station.

Agonizing melancholy interchanges with apocalyptic anxiety, as does deep emotional injury with smiles and apologies... and without any of the usual consoling self-deception that ‘we still have time’.

Screenplay: Jenni Toivoniemi Cinematography: Jarmo Kiuru Cast: Laura Birn, Emmi Parviainen, Paula Vesala, Iida-Maria Heinonen Production: Venla Hellstedt, Elli Toivoniemi / TUFFI FILMS

Class reunions, evenings rehashing the best years of our lives or claiming that the best is yet to come = good dramedy.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Monday, 19.10 19:00 Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 25.10 20:30

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

Jorunn Myklebust Syversen

Marcus Lindeen

DISCO

THE RAFT FLOTTEN

NO, 2019, 93’, no/en For audiences age 16 and up

SE/DK/DE/US, 2018, 97’, en/fr/ja/sv/de/es For audiences age 16 and up

‘It’s so easy, easy, easy when you’ve been saved, saved, saved. Praise the Lord in heaven!’ But for Mirjam it’s hard.

The world around her is covered with a permanent layer of make-up – ecstatic speeches, spotlights, smoke machines, sparkles and fringe... She is the world champion in disco dancing and the pride of her parent’s evangelical movement.

But the devil ‘continuously plants demons in you’, so Mirjam decides to strengthen her faith in a more conservative congregation.

This is not a caricature but an observation that provokes public debate. Syversen’s screenplay is based on a study of Norway’s charismatic churches. How can one get on the narrow path to God without collapsing or getting lost?

Screenplay: Jorunn Myklebust Syversen Cinematography: Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen Cast: Josefine Frida, Kjærsti Odden Skjeldal, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Andrea Bræin Hovig Production: Maria Ekerhovd / MER FILM AS

Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés comes up with an idea to study human behaviour in a limited space and dangerous conditions. What makes us hate each other? An ideal field of research is being created – an iron pontoon raft, in which the darkest drives must manifest themselves. In May 1973, it started its journey from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic Ocean.

The director has brought this amazing study from oblivion – through finding archive footage that was considered to be lost and gathering seven of the eleven people who took part in the 101-day experiment in which the whole group became like a very tight tribe. The only one who actually showed any kind of aggression was... the author of this daring idea. In 2017, a copy of the original raft was exhibited as an art installation at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Screenplay: Marcus Lindeen Cinematography: Måns Månsson Cast: Fé Seymour, Maria Björnstam, Servane Zanotti, Eisuke Yamaki Production: Erik Gandini / FASAD / BULLITT FILM, SUTOR KOLONKO, MOTTO PICTURES

Faith and fanaticism, a saviour and an abuser – the ability of a young mind to make a clear distinction is debatable.

The director is determined to find out if an anthropological experiment and Stockholm Syndrome intersect.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Monday, 19.10 20:30

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 24.10 16:00

NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS

Lotta Petronella

SJÄLÖ – ISLAND OF SOULS SJÄLÖ FI, 2020, 78’, sv/fi For audiences age 16 and up

In 1619 Gustav II Adolf ordered the construction of a leper hospital on a remote island in the Baltic Sea – the spread of the disfiguring ailment was seen as God’s punishment for sinners. The first pastor at the local church was a doctor who went mad after just five years. After a while, others who ‘lacked the Holy Spirit’ were also sent to the island. Up until 1962, the former hospital served as an asylum for mentally ill women, their letters never reaching the intended receivers... All that remains are tales of odd white figures fleeing over the frozen sea.

When Petronella got to know the island and its archives, the voices of the past refused to leave her thoughts – and so she made this film. People were once expelled to Själö, beautiful at all times of the year. Today, the place is a research centre, and scientists voluntarily choose their isolation. The women in detention were observed in much the same way as nature is being studied here, where the souls of the forgotten wander.

Screenplay: Lotta Petronella, Seppo Parkkinen Cinematography: Kerttu Hakkarainen Production: Ilona Tolmunen, Ulla Simonen, Johanna Tarvainen / MADE

A ghostly visit, legends about prisoners, and the absorbing silence of nature.

The souls of the island have much to say.

Splendid Palace Small hall Sunday, 25.10 16:00

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HOM E MADE BALTIC FILM LANDSCAPE RIGA IFF develops together as one with the film culture and film industry of the Baltics. The selected films fit into the collective of contemporary world cinema and seek to reach out to the audience as they overcome barriers of nationality and language – yet always staying aware of their origins, and proud of it.

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HOME MADE

PREMIERES The premieres of Baltic films experienced in the international context of RIGA IFF. For countries with low audiovisual capacity, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, regional context and cooperation tend to be crucial to international success. A striking example of this are the artistically and technically compelling co-productions included in HOME MADE Premieres. These films have already appeared at the most coveted platforms of European filmmakers – the San Sebastian, Rotterdam, and Cannes Film Festivals.

However, HOME MADE Premieres is not just a reference point – it is a celebration for viewers and, above all, those involved in making the films. Since these films have brought together several Baltic countries, the filming crews can experience several meet-ups as they premiere the films in each country.

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HOME MADE

Ágnes Kocsis

Ignas Jonynas

ÉDEN

NEMATOMA

HU/RO/BE, 2020, 153’, hu For audiences age 16 and up

LT, 2019, 120’, lt/uk For audiences age 16 and up

Éva has spent the last seven years living in an apartment with steel-grey walls that protect her from air pollution, harmful chemical substances, electromagnetic fields emitted by devices, and radio waves; to deal with the isolation and loneliness, she makes figures and jewellery from wire and listens to the music coming from her neighbours. Her only human contact is with her caring brother and the doctors who are trying to find the cause of her seizures, hypersensitivity and anxiety. Also suffering from a lack of intimacy is the psychiatrist who enters Éva’s life and whose bond with her is becoming ever stronger.

Ten years have been lived in forced isolation – one man spent them in a hut in the Carpathian mountains with his uncle, working with taxidermy, furs and antlers, while the other spent them in prison for a crime that unites the two young men. A world permeated by manipulations awaits tearful stories with happy endings and promises of false hopes, but the choreography of the dance of life is not a TV show – it is knit and unraveled by the forces of an invisible, indescribable truth. And the last act of a tragic love triangle is yet to come…

EDEN

A visually nuanced and strikingly prophetic story about alienation and the mortal threats of today’s world. Director Ágnes Kocsis co-wrote the film with screenwriter and director Ivo Briedis from Latvia and Gábor Németh and Andrea Roberti from Hungary. Daan Stuyven, musician, singer and founder of the Belgian band Daan, plays the psychiatrist.

Screenplay: Ágnes Kocsis, Ivo Briedis, Gábor Németh, Andrea Roberti Cinematography: Máté Tóth Widamon Cast: Lana Barić, Daan Stuyven, Lóránt Bocskor-Salló, Maja Roberti Production: József Berger, Els Vandevorst, Ágnes Pataki, Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu, Alain Berliner / MYTHBERG FILMS, LIBRA FILMS, CREATIVE HOURS

Splendid Palace Small hall Friday, 16.10 17:30

HOME MADE

INVISIBLE

This time, the creative duo of director Ignas Jonynas and his friend, professor of philosophy and writer Kristupas Sabolius, has created a film of neo-noir aesthetics that talks about the inner workings of man. The original music for Invisible is by Toms Auniņš; also heard in the film is Lullaby, composed by Auniņš and Vladislav Nastavshev for the Federico García Lorca play Blood Wedding, which plays one of the key roles in understanding this intense drama.

Screenplay: Ignas Jonynas, Kristupas Sabolius Cinematography: Denis Lushchik Cast: Dainius Kazlauskas, Paulina Taujanskaitė, Darius Bagdžiūnas, Dmitrijus Denisiukas Production: Kristina Ramanauskaitė / MAGIC FILMS / LOCOMOTIVE PRODUCTIONS, LIMELITE, RED PRODUCTION

Splendid Palace Small hall Saturday, 17.10 18:00

Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

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Šarūnas Bartas

IN THE DUSK LT/FR/CZ/RS/PT/LV, 2020, 128’, lt For audiences age 16 and up

In 1948 the people of Lithuania, who did not support the occupying Soviet army and regime, were still hoping for foreign help in regaining their independence.

During the ensuing economic, political and social repression, nineteen-year-old Untė tries to understand both himself and what is going on around him.

The film is internationally renowned director Šarūnas Bartas’ impassioned look at a period of history when guerrilla units staged armed resistance to the Soviet regime, and anyone who didn’t align with one of the warring parties was seen as belonging to the other. Each person fought for what they believed in. Is it worth sacrificing your life for the sake of your convictions and the freedom of your country? In the Dusk has been included in the official competition programme of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Screenplay: Šarūnas Bartas, Aušra Giedraitytė Cinematography: Eitvydas Doškus Cast: Arvydas Dapšys, Marius Povilas Elijas Martynenko, Alina Žaliukaitė-Ramanauskienė, Valdas Virgailis Production: Šarūnas Bartas, Jurga Dikčiuvienė, Janja Kralj / STUDIJA KINEMA, KINOELEKTRON / SIRENA FILM, BIBERCHE PRODUCTIONS, TERRATREME FILMES, MISTRUS MEDIA

Splendid Palace Large hall Sunday, 18.10 16:30

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Tomas Vengris

MOTHERLAND GIMTINE LT/LV/DE/GR, 2019, 96’, lt For audiences age 16 and up

Viktorija managed to reach the faraway world that she had once only imagined from the shores of the Baltic Sea. After her dreams end in a broken marriage, together with her teenage son she returns to a newly independent Lithuania where she hopes to reclaim the house that belonged to her parents who died in exile in Siberia. Viktorija’s former lover volunteers to help her settle things, but everything looks and turns out differently than she had nostalgically imagined it would be.

The main theme in this debut feature-length film by director and screenwriter Tomas Vengris is the search for one’s identity – to which Vengris is no stranger himself having grown up in an immigrant Lithuanian family in the US. Severija Janušauskaitė – Lithuanian stage and film actress, singer, composer, costume designer, fashion model and well-known for her role on the German TV neo-noir detective series Babylon Berlin – plays the female lead.

Screenplay: Tomas Vengris Cinematography: Audrius Kemežys Cast: Matas Metlevski, Severija Janušauskaitė, Darius Gumauskas, Barbora Bareikytė Production: Uljana Kim, Roberts Vinovskis, Sebastian Weyland, Knut Jäger, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos / STUDIO ULJANA KIM, LOCOMOTIVE PRODUCTIONS

Splendid Palace Small hall Tuesday, 20.10 18:00

HOME MADE

THE TIMELINE “PIONEERING

WOMEN IN FILM” AIMING FOR 50/50 Ever since the silent era, women have been involved in filmmaking. Many of them are now forgotten despite prominence during their day. The global film industry still remains dominated by men, but in many countries women are increasingly assuming their rights.

15–25 October, frontyard of the cinema Splendid Palace, Elizabetes iela 61

Representation, diversity and gender-parity are crucial to the filmmaking process. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Film is one of the most global and powerful media we have today. In many ways it reflects stereotypes that exist in society, but it can also contribute to changing them.

Find out more: RIGAIFF.LV

Weekdays Weekends

12:00–22:00 10:00–22:00

RIGA IFF and the Swedish Embassy in Riga invite you to meet outstanding film personalities at the exhibition at Splendid Palace, starting with a contemporary of the Lumière brothers – Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), the first female filmmaker in world history.

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HOME MADE

ANIMATED Every year we set new challenges for ourselves and discover unexpected facets of strength. For the second time now, the focal point of HOME MADE is animated film.

Mikk Mägi, Oskar Lehemaa

OLD MAN – THE MOVIE VANAMEHE FILM

EE, 2019, 88’, et For audiences age 16 and up

Milk is good; it is our responsibility and our cult. In a milk-obsessed community of people and cows in the Estonian countryside, the Old Man’s grandchildren come to visit. A man of strong character who believes that hard work is healing, he puts the children to doing farm chores.

Soon the tiny rascals release a cow that has not yet been milked, and the cow’s udder becomes a Hitchcockian time bomb – they have only 24 hours to do everything they can to prevent a ‘lacto-apocalypse’ milk explosion.

Created by Estonian directors Mägi and Lehemaa in the genre of a road film, this claymation comedy takes the viewer on a fun off-road trip full of irony that is suitable for both younger and older audiences.

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The filmmakers highlight social criticism and how urbanization has influenced rural communities, with a subtle shot of national self-irony about how dialogue between townspeople and peasants varies, eventually leading to satire as pure as the freshest milk.

Screenplay: Mikk Mägi, Oskar Lehemaa Cinematography: Urmas Jõemees Voices: Mikk Mägi, Oskar Lehemaa, Jan Uuspõld, Indrek Ojari Production: Erik Heinsalu, Veiko Esken, Tanel Tatter, Mikk Mägi / BOP ANIMATION / APOLLO FILM PRODUCTIONS Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Tuesday, 20.10 16:00

HOME MADE

HOME MADE

ANIMATED SHORTS Kaspar Jancis

COSMONAUT KOSMONAUT EE, 2020, 11’38’’

TUESDAY, 20.10 20:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up An old Cosmonaut leads his life in an apartment as narrow as a cabin on a space station. He still carries out heroic missions and misses his relatives. Is this man capable of landing back to his orbit while thinking in an entirely different universe?

Screenplay: Kaspar Jancis Animation: Kaspar Jancis Production: Kalev Tamm / JOONISFILM

Kārlis Vītols

THE SWAN MAIDEN GULBJU JAUNAVA LV, 2020, 14’34”

Jurģis Krāsons

IN THE PIPE TRUBĀ LV, 2020, 8’

When the Swan Maiden falls in love with the Woodcutter, she leaves her world to enter his. The film tells a story of a young woman who makes a choice between her freedom and a life of a loving mother and wife. Interpretation of K. Skalbe’s fairy tale.

Screenplay: Kārlis Vītols Animation: Kārlis Vītols Production: Līga Gaisa / AIR PRODUCTIONS An old plumber is trapped within a system of pipes. He helped build the system, which has collected the bitterness, fear, populism and garbage flushed away by the society above. As he looks for an exit, mayhem ensues and extinct professions awaken.

Screenplay: Andris Akmentiņš Animation Jurģis Krāsons Production: Jurģis Krāsons / KRASIVO LIMITED

Ignas Meilūnas

MATHILDA AND THE SPARE HEAD MATILDA IR ATSARGINĖ GALVA LT, 2020, 13’09’’, lt

HOME MADE

A girl wants to be the smartest girl in the world. When all the things she had learned could not fit in one head, mother bought her a backup one. Two heads are better than one, right? But which head should she wear at what time? Shortly the second one is lost…

Screenplay: Dangiras Bugas, Ignas Meilūnas Cinematography: Simonas Glinskis Production: Marija Razgute / M-FILMS

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Robertas Nevecka

Frigid winter in a war-devastated, present-day city. A thirty-year-old guy is looking for a better life.

SNIEGO PASTOGĖ

Screenplay: Robertas Nevecka Cinematography: Vytautas Plukas Animation: Robertas Nevecka, Pijus Balkaitis, Pijus Čeikauskas Production: Giedrė Burokaitė / MENO AVILYS

SNOW SHELTER LT, 2020, 16’09’’, lt

Urtė Budinaitė-Oettinger

MILKSHAKE BAR PIENO BARAS LT, 2020, 13’, lt

Every day Mikas meets his best friends Sonata the squirrel and Gabriel the cat at the Milkshake Bar. Once they come across a photo of a bear who looks an awful lot like Mikas... An animated story about modern families and their challenges.

Screenplay: Urtė Budinaitė-Oettinger, Agnė Adomėnė, Marija Kavtaradze Animation: Urtė Budinaitė-Oettinger Production: Agnė Adomėnė / ART SHOT

Eglė Mameniškytė

COMBING ŠUKAVIMAS LT, 2020, 5’11’’

Combing is a meditative act leading to contemplation and introspection. The short film is a self-portrait created in motion, time and from the memories of the father-daughter relationship. Both of them are united and will continue to be united by hair.

Screenplay: Eglė Mameniškytė Animation: Eglė Mameniškytė Production: Eglė Mameniškytė / Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre

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HOME MADE

CREATE YOUR PERSONAL CONTENT STORE Sell photos, videos, audio, books, presentations or documents. Platform to monetize digital services. files.fm/sell-files

HOME MADE

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FOUN

D

IN

BERLINALE CURRENT TRENDS IN GERMAN FILM

Films that were recently screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and exhibit the strength and diversity of contemporary German cinema. As one of Europe’s major film producers, Germany discovers, implements and defines the newest trends in film by presenting new talent, new stars, skillfully crafted films made for

wide-ranging audiences, auteur surprises, and energetic documentaries. This selection of the best of new German cinema is not just a unique opportunity to see the films on the big screen in Riga, but also an exclusive insight into German society and cultural life.

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FOUND IN BERLINALE

OPENING

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FOUND IN BERLINALE

Christian Petzold

UNDINE

DE/FR, 2020, 90’, de For audiences age 16 and up The water nymph Undine was born in the waters of a lake, but living on dry land she has come to know all of Berlin’s secrets. Now she works as a historian in a museum packed with models of urban layouts and buildings. When the museum cafeteria’s aquarium breaks, she meets Christoph, an industrial diver who personifies the metal figure of an antique diver from the broken aquarium. A modern-day fairy tale about feelings that are clear as water, coming to life in a city that was once divided but now is whole.

As Christian Petzold, one of today’s most notable names in German cinema, says, this merging of the mythology of the naiad Undine and Berlin’s history is a continuation of his previous work Transit (2018), which completed his trilogy Love in the Time of Oppressive Systems.

Screenplay: Christian Petzold Cinematography: Hans Fromm Cast: Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, Maryam Zaree, Jacob Matschenz Production: Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber / SCHRAMM FILM KOERNER & WEBER / LES FILMS DU LOSANGE

Intellectually stimulating auteur cinema.

Even the love story of a mermaid and a diver can become emotionally cunning.

Splendid Palace Large hall Tuesday, 20.10 18:30 Splendid Palace Small hall Thursday, 22.10 18:30

FOUND IN BERLINALE

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An offer to wander off among the echos of the Berlinale as we find ourselves in a time of change and transformation. Forged in close cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Riga, the programme brings together films that were screened at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. They are stories of Berlin itself, its city image, or the subconscious of modern Germany. In other words – a grasped close-up of modern Germany through the latest and most discussed films of this cinema superpower.

Mariko Minoguchi

RELATIVITY MEIN ENDE. DEIN ANFANG DE, 2019, 111’, de For audiences age 16 and up

This year – both globally and for the film industry – is passing and continues to concentrate energy under signs of both tectonic change and stagnation. It was also the debut year for Italian Carlo Chatrian as artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival, who replaced film critic and researcher Dieter Kosslick after 18 years at the helm. This does not mean, however, that the sociopolitical dimension of the festival as one concerted organism has diminished – that is still present. Nevertheless, this year has laid the foundations for other cinematographic opportunities for straying and playing games of ‘hide-and-seek’.

You may ask – what do these seemingly distant echoes from Berlin or the checkmates of German and European identity mean to the RIGA IFF viewer? The eclectic composition of FOUND IN BERLINALE allows one to see the diverse spectrum of German cinema – from screenings of literary classics that are either visually picturesque and serene or that appeal to the values of the modern European citizen, to the voices of the new trends in German cinema, an intimate family archive, and a rebus assigned by one of the most well-known filmmakers of the so-called Berlin School. In the latter there is a mermaid, an industrial diver, a once-divided-then-reunited Berlin, the most talented actors of the new generation, and a past that never ends. It makes history reappear from anew as it finds its place. To being found again!

They were destined to be together.

Likewise, Aron, fascinated by physics and quantum theory, was ordained to die, leaving Nora alone. Soon she – a figure skater turned grocery store cashier – begins to question everything: if their meeting and being with one another was destiny, then is this the end or the beginning of something? Nevertheless, his ideas of temporal symmetry now infiltrate her daily life. Then she meets luckless Natan, whom she seems to know already.

Minoguchi’s debut work is a prudently ambitious transfer of the principles of quantum and relativity physics into cinematography, ingeniously using the genre of melodrama. Much like Schrödinger’s cat experiment, Nora’s lover is both alive and dead. Highly regarded by film critics, this visually crafted melodrama offers a philosophical commentary on relationships – the past relentlessly returns to the future as everything becomes one and the same.

Screenplay: Mariko Minoguchi Cinematography: Julian Krubasik Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Julius Feldmeier, Edin Hasanović, Hanns Zischler Production: Trini Götze, David Armati Lechner, Thomas Wöbke / TRIMAFILM, BERGHAUSWÖBKE FILMPRODUKTION Relationships as seen through quantum mechanics. It’s either/or until everything happens and everything becomes one.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Tuesday, 20.10 20:30

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Janna Ji Wonders

Christian Schwochow

WALCHENSEE FOREVER

THE GERMAN LESSON DEUTSCHSTUNDE

DE, 2020, 112’, de/en For audiences age 16 and up

DE, 2019, 125’, de For audiences age 16 and up

A ruthlessly intimate and complex biographical work of cinema featuring four generations of women in the family of the film’s German-American director. The ancestral story begins in 1924 on the shores of Walchensee lake in the Bavarian alps, where Wonders’ grandmother Norma settles down. What follows is traditional Bavarian folk costumes, steaming, justbaked savoury pastries in a cafeteria, the Nazi years, bitter sadness, World War II, sorrowful guitar strumming, the search for one’s self in India and Mexico, free love in America, counterculture, a harem, and depression.

Accurately captured truths of life are the most perceptive form of dramatic composition, as confirmed by the award that Wonders received for her documentary at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Screenplay: Janna Ji Wonders, Nico Woche Cinematography: Janna Ji Wonders, Sven Zellner, Anna Werner Production: Martin Heisler / FLARE FILM / BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK

A fragile symphony of memories about the women of one family. As in Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, only the women remain.

Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Wednesday, 21.10 18:00 Saturday, 24.10 13:30

It is the post-war years, and Siggi finds himself in a juvenile detention centre in northern Germany. He is assigned to write an essay titled The Joy of Duty, but instead, the young man remembers how his father turned in to the Nazis his friend, the expressionist painter Max. Siggi was supposed to help his father in this, but the so-called degenerate art fascinated him. The experiences of the past resurface and become the most vivid painting that Siggi has ever seen.

The literary quartet of Günter Grass, Heinrich Böll, Martin Walser and Siegfried Lenz formed the core structure of German post-war literature. Lenz’s novel (1968) is considered to be one of the most effectual works revealing the disparateness of World War II and German history.

Screenplay: Heide Schwochow Cinematography: Frank Lamm Cast: Ulrich Noethen, Tobias Moretti, Johanna Wokalek, Sonja Richter Production: Jutta Lieck-Klenke, Dietrich Kluge, Ulf Israel / NETWORK MOVIE / SENATOR FILM KÖLN, ZDF

The feeling of rereading a classic book from which you can’t tear yourself away.

Then memory and history take over.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Thursday, 22.10 16:00 Splendid Palace Small hall & online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 25.10 13:30

FOUND IN BERLINALE

Burhan Qurbani

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ DE/NL, 2020, 183’, de/en For audiences age 18 and up

Francis, a young refugee from West Africa with a criminal past and no passport, arrives in a neon Berlin that seethes with wretches and hooligans. Francis, a young refugee from West Africa with a criminal past and no passport, arrives in a neon Berlin that seethes with wretches and hooligans. He both brings to life and destroys the modern German dream within five chapters.

A cinematic finger on the pulse emitted by migration, good intentions, and the contradictions of postcolonialism. Based on the novel by the German modernist Alfred Döblin on the decadence of the Weimar Republic.

Screenplay: Martin Behnke, Burhan Qurbani Cinematography: Yoshi Heimrath Cast: Welket Bungué, Jella Haase, Albrecht Schuch, Joachim Król Production: Leif Alexis, Jochen Laube, Fabian Maubach / SOMMERHAUS FILMPRODUKTION / LEMMING FILM, ZDF UND ARTE

The rhythms of life and nightlife in Berlin’s U-Bahn stations and parks, and the reality of European migration.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv Thursday, 22.10 21:00 Sunday, 25.10 18:00

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ARCHITECT 'S CUT ARCHITECTURE, ENVIRONMENT, CINEMA Both architecture and cinema influence the way we perceive the spaces and places we live in. This has led to a growing interest – from viewers, directors and producers alike – in films about different environments and great architects. The subject has given rise to new thematic festivals and special film programmes around the world.

RIGA IFF presents its own vision of the symbiosis between architecture and cinema through a selection of films that will be screened inside one of Riga’s most visible architectural monuments – the National Library of Latvia.

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CURATOR’S GREETING

Joonas Salo

Joseph Hillel

FI/SJ, 2018, 25’, en For audiences age 16 and up

CA/US, 2018, 80’, en/fr For audiences age 16 and up

Far north, in the isles of Svalbard, is a small town called Pyramiden that was once the finest model of communism.

Now the former home of Soviet workers is almost empty – only a handful of residents and workers are welcoming thousands of tourists every year. You can’t meet those who feel the need to talk to someone all the time.

We meet four inspiring urban architects – Phyllis Lambert, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Denise Scott Brown. Thanks to their innate talent, minds and will, they forged a path into what was a ‘male profession’.

IT’S NOT SILENCE

CITY DREAMERS

Viesturs Celmiņš RIGA IFF guest curator Social anthropologist and urban planner The question we faced: what kind of films would even be suitable for 2020? We selected stories based on scale: changes in people, human-made changes in the city, and changes in nature that seem to have shifted into a new and sobering quality.

One of the films, City Dreamers asks a series of questions that also concern us.

What sort of changes are significant in terms of architecture and planning?

What sort of professional and civic skills are needed to make our cities more livable and enjoyable? The story is vibrant and the narrators are experienced; they execute change with their own two hands. They challenge the current state of things, fully ready to take a blow and even jeopardise their careers in the name of personal and public values.

The second story – It’s Not Silence – is a shade more gritty. How do we approach the changes that still need to take place in our minds and hearts but that require a firmer maturity? And why do we tend to equate solitariness with loneliness? Here, abstract spaces become intimate places.

If these stories capture and articulate the mood of different groups in society, then Last and First Men conjures up a time that will come long after we are gone – a visually associative, purposeful meditation on the time, space and reality that we have left behind us. We have deliberately expanded our thematic template from the pragmatic, personal and rational to the poetic, contemplative and planetarily speculative – so that it is as vast, capacious and blurry as the strained era in which we have found ourselves since the beginning of 2020.

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Not everyone could stay here long. There is no internet, no phone connection, no television, no radio – a real privilege to stay out of modern facilities. We are almost all addicted to the constant unrest and noises of the world around us. You just calm down inside yourself in Pyramiden. You hear and listen to the sounds of nature that people usually name silence.

Screenplay: Joonas Salo Cinematography: Joonas Salo Production: Joonas Salo

Their creative lives have been dedicated to a special passion – to create a beautiful, comfortable, healthy, and inclusive living space for everyone, not just the wealthiest. They are women who have for decades been fascinated and have fascinated others with realistic dreams: sustainable solutions, the conservation of historic districts, pedestrian-friendly environments, parks, landscaping, green roofs, and playgrounds – ideas that no longer surprise anyone. Cities evolve and change. This must be allowed and helped to happen with a clear understanding of what should be preserved and what it is time to say goodbye to.

Screenplay: Joseph Hillel, Bruno Baillargeon Cinematography: Stéphanie Weber Biron, Léna Mill-Reuillard, Étienne Boilard Cast: Denise Scott Brown, Phyllis Lambert, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel Production: Ziad Touma / COUZIN FILMS

The story of a place where abandonment, solitariness, and loneliness have taken on a new, less stigmatizing form. online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 21:00

The recent past, when activism and preserving heritage were not yet fashionable. Theme: gender equality without pathos.

National Library of Latvia & online.rigaiff.lv Monday, 19.10 19:00

ARCHITECT’S CUT

ARCHITECT’S CUT

OPENING

Jóhann Jóhannsson

LAST AND FIRST MEN

IS, 2020, 70’, en For audiences age 16 and up

‘Listen patiently... We, who are the Last Men, earnestly desire to communicate with you.’ Existence has always been precarious. Humanity might have been exterminated by some slight alteration to its chemical environment, by a more than usually malignant microbe, by a radical change of climate, by the manifold effects of its own folly, or by some celestial event.

The first and final feature film directed by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969–2018) is a poetic allegory of the concepts of memory, ideals and the destruction of an utopia. Tilda Swinton, an unnamed narrator, reads the text of the science fiction novel by writer and philosopher Olaf Stapledon. A black-andwhite harbour for thoughts about yourself

ARCHITECT’S CUT

and others as an immensely short musical composition. The work was completed after the death of its author.

Screenplay: Jóhann Jóhannsson, José Enrique Macián Cinematography: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen Cast: Tilda Swinton Production: Jóhann Jóhannsson, Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson, Sturla Brandth Grøvlen / ZIK ZAK FILMWORKS A poetic and moving conversation of sound and monuments in Tilda Swinton’s meditation on the possible end of humanity.

National Library of Latvia Sunday, 18.10 19:00

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SHORT

RIGA SHORT FILMS, EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA AND MUSIC VIDEOS In the world of cinema, short film is the bravest and most explicit mirror of our times. To help you navigate through this wide range of short films and Baltic music videos, we’ve created selections in which each work is like a tiny kernel of corn that, once projected onto the screen, warms up and explodes into a popcorn-like cloud of reflection, emotions, laughter or tears. No one will be left untouched, guaranteed!

We warmly invite you to attend: the International Competition screenings; the Festival Darlings selection of surprising masterpieces; the Baltic Music Video Competition screening; the National short film competition screenings; and the director retrospective programme Persona.

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CURATOR’S GREETING

Anna Zača Curator, SHORT RIGA The SHORT RIGA section will go out to its viewers digitally – the participating films will be available for watching online. As we release this group of short films selected throughout the year with careful consideration, we are overwhelmed with even greater anxiety than that experienced before a theatrical screening.

On the one hand, it is an opportunity for the programme to be seen by a larger audience; on the other hand, we now have to take into account anonymous and possibly unprepared viewers.

Every year, both before and after the films were screened, an on-site conversation took place. It seemed to me that that was an opportunity to wield some slight control over the situation – to protect the director from the viewer and vice versa. This conversation provided added value and satisfaction to both the viewers and the filmmakers immediately after watching the film. That will not be the case this year. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to show slow and atmospheric films due to the lack of a concrete cinematic space that creates not only a place in which to enjoy the moment but also a place that can assure viewer patience. The screenings will most likely be disturbed by the neighbour’s dogs, computer and network glitches, or an uncomfortable sofa. We, the curators of the programme, are eagerly looking forward to meeting with the audience, even though this will have to take place through webcam lenses.

Although the films included in the programme were made before the Covid-19 crisis, their selection took place in isolation, and the consequences of that are undeniably reflected in the 50 short films divided among the ten sections – that’s two more sections than last year. We are also including a National Competition for the first time, with the goal of showing as many Latvian films as possible and guaranteeing that they reach the international field of view. After a one-year break, we return to the sub-programme Persona – this year we will show a selection of short films by Norwegian director Gunhild Enger. Enger has had a great time

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poking fun at her compatriots, and perhaps that is why her films have become more popular abroad than in her own country. In our opinion, we could all benefit from the healthy dose of self-irony that permeates her films. Festival Darlings will, as is tradition, feature the most popular short films among other festivals.

Among them are two short films by world-renowned directors – Jonathan Glazer’s The Fall, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Nimic. Both of these short films have not been included in the competition at the request of the directors so as to give way to new talent. As every year, the competition films mostly ask questions and stimulate thought processes, just like vitamins. Some will really challenge viewers’ patience, some will awaken prejudices deep within us, while others will make us cringe, but none of them will force the viewer to cry just for the sake of crying. Those who long for travel will be able to get a sense of other corners of the world, as well as get to know various new people without leaving their physical comfort zone. The same cannot, however, be said about one’s psychological comfort zone. This year’s films evoke kinetic, tactile, and even physical sensations like never before.

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SHORT RIGA

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 21.10 18:00

The official opening of SHORT RIGA, at which RIGA IFF celebrates the premieres of locally made short films and introduces the Norwegian short film author Gunhild Enger.

Splendid Palace Large hall

For audiences age 12 and up

Respecting and cherishing even the shortest of works, we believe that each of the films selected to premier this evening deserves a round of applause as it appears on the big screen for the very first time.

Gunhild Enger

PLAY SCHENGEN NO, 2020, 14’, no

A gaming company is making a video game for kids about the EU. Each player is a bird who must breed and nest across borders, but only in accordance with its visa. The question is, can Schengen be made interesting for young people?

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger Cinematography: Øystein Mamen Production: Ingvild Evjemo

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Kārlis Vītols

Jurģis Krāsons

GULBJU JAUNAVA

TRUBĀ

LV, 2020, 14’34”

LV, 2020, 8’

When the Swan Maiden falls in love with the Woodcutter she leaves her world to enter his. The film tells a story of a young woman who makes a choice between her freedom and a life of a loving mother and wife. Interpretation of K. Skalbe’s fairy tale.

An old plumber is trapped within a system of pipes. He helped build the system, which has collected the bitterness, fear, populism and garbage flushed away by the society above. As he looks for an exit, mayhem ensues and extinct professions awaken.

Screenplay: Kārlis Vītols Animation: Kārlis Vītols

Screenplay: Andris Akmentiņš Animation: Jurģis Krāsons Production: Jurģis Krāsons / KRASIVO LIMITED

THE SWAN MAIDEN

IN THE PIPE

SHORT RIGA

Edmunds Jansons

Mārcis Lācis

Laila Pakalniņa

GODA SARDZE

PĒDĒJĀ MALTĪTE

PIRMAIS TILTS

LV, 2020, 5’

LV, 2020, 7’33’’, lv

LV, 2020, 12’

The guards stand in front of the historical symbol of the state. No matter the season or weather, they fulfil their duty, the obligation of honour. Is there a boundary beyond which this honourable credibility begins to look exaggerated?

A bureaucrat who has just declared himself as a new political force has disappeared… in the canteen; police are investigating. Combining the absurd and black humour, a harsh and ironic reflection on civil servants, cops, and contemporary art.

Krāslava bridge was the first bridge built over the Daugava River in Latvia. This film was shot on Kodak Eastman Plus-X Negative Film 5231, acquired in 1997 and discovered intact in 2018. That is why The First Bridge has been dedicated to film.

Screenplay: Edmunds Jansons Animation: Edmunds Jansons Production: Sabīne Andersone / ATOM ART

Screenplay: Mārcis Lācis Cinematography: Mārcis Ābele Production: Mārcis Lācis, Daiga Livčāne / LATVIAN ACADEMY OF CULTURE

Screenplay: Laila Pakalniņa Cinematography: Gints Bērziņš Production: Laila Pakalniņa / HARGLA COMPANY

GUARD OF HONOR

LAST MEAL

SHORT RIGA

THE FIRST BRIDGE

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SHORT RIGA

INTERNATIONAL

COMPETITION

The SHORT RIGA International Competition looks for new auteur films of various genres and techniques from all over the world.

This is one of 24 international short film competitions that presents a selected film with a candidacy in the short film category of the European Film Awards.

of short films. There are as many films as there are opinions, and as many authors as there are stories. The only things the selected films have in common is a maximum running time of 30 minutes and the presence of a strong personality. Audience members are guaranteed to quarrel, laugh, or even shed a tear or two!

The curator and selection committee evaluate submissions, individually look for works in the programmes of other film festivals as well as film and art schools, and reach out to independent makers

Selection Committee: Sniedze Kāle, Dita Ābola, Indra Kerste, Lauma Kaudzīte, Jānis Kovaļevskis un Līga Požarska.

SHORT RIGA INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY

Signe Birkova

Wim Vanaker

Mikhail Zheleznikov

Signe Birkova is a filmmaker from Riga and has studied Philosophy, Journalism and Film. Since then, she has directed short fiction films, experimental films, documentaries, TV programmes as well as analogue film performances. She makes experimental films using 16mm and Super 8 film material, and different animation techniques.

Her short fiction film Upon Return I’ll Be a Flaming Rose received a special FIPRESCI award in Latvia in 2014. Signe is a member of the Baltic Analog Lab artist collective.

After studying psychology in Belgium, Wim Vanacker moved to Dublin to work as a psychologist in the field of drug addiction. Three years later, he picked up studying again at EICAR. After graduating, he discovered NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema where he became the Head of the Script Department and the Project manager of the MEDIA funded project, European Short Pitch. He is a member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and Editorial Consultant for the First Cut Lab. On the side, he works as a script consultant, creative advisor, programmer, tutor and guest speaker.

Mikhail Zheleznikov has made films for ARTE, YLE and St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio. His video works have been played at various art venues and film festivals. Curates experimental short film competition In Silico at Message To Man film festival. Co-programs the experimental film festival Kinodot. In 2015–2019 was teaching at St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture, since 2016 in St. Petersburg New Cinema School, since 2019 in St. Petersburg State Institute of Film and TV. In 2019 was one of the curators of experimental project Per Forma 2 Stage at the Big Drama Theater.

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MYTHOLOGY TODAY Pedro Neves Marques

THE BITE A MORDIDA

WEDNESDAY, 21.10 19:00 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up Between a house in the forest and a genetically-modified mosquito lab, a polyamorous, non-binary relationship struggles to survive an epidemic in Brazil. Millions of mosquitos are born daily in vitro as the power dynamics between people intensify.

PT, 2019, 26’, pt

Screenplay: Pedro Neves Marques Cinematography: Marta Simões Production: Pedro Neves Marques, Catarina de Sousa

Iris Baglanea

Ira lives with her family in a remote location in Greece.

She will face one of the strongest experiences of her childhood during a ‘training’ session with her father, who has a very particular life view.

GOADS

GR, 2020, 14’57’’, el/de

Stephen Irwin

WOOD CHILD & HIDDEN FOREST MOTHER GB, 2019, 9’

Fábio Baldo, Tico Dias

THE FANTASTIC GARDEN O JARDIM FANTÁSTICO BR, 2020, 20’, pt

Joder von Rotz

LITTLE MISS FATE CH, 2020, 8’15’’

Screenplay: Iris Baglanea Cinematography: Olympia Mytilinaiou Production: Maria Repousi, Iris Baglanea / WHOLEWAVE

Deep in the forest, a hunter encounters a strange creature that cannot die. Caught up in a twisted tale of metamorphosis, creation and destruction, he embarks on a never-ending technicolour nightmare, and is taken to a vibrant new world… and body.

Screenplay: Stephen Irwin Cinematography: Stephen Irwin Production: Stephen Irwin

An indigenous teacher implements the use of Ayahuasca in her classes in order to connect her students to another reality. During a ritual, one of the children comes upon something strange in the forest.

Screenplay: Fábio Baldo, Raymundo Calumby Cinematography: Ivan Rodrigues Production: Lara Lima, Issis Valenzuela / FILMES DA GRUTA

Little Miss Fate lives in a world driven by fate. When the opportunity arises, she slips into the role of world leader.

She unintentionally creates a monster that greedily wants to suck up all the love in the world. Things develop rapidly…

Screenplay: Joder von Rotz Animation: Joder von Rotz, Lorenz Wunderle Production: Fela Bellotto, Lukas Pulver / YK ANIMATION STUDIO

SHORT RIGA

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INESCAPABLE POLITICS Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung

SLEEPWALKER 夢遊者

WEDNESDAY, 21.10 20:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up In 2014 the Sunflower Movement took place in Taipei; activists occupied the parliament in protest of the government’s trade deal with China. Living far from Taiwan and homesick, the director found archival footage of the protest and made this film.

US, 2019, 9’02’’, zh/en

Screenplay: Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung Cinematography: Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung Production: Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung

Maija Blåfield

North Korean exiles describe watching forbidden foreign films: what did they imagine the world outside to be like? The film reverses the usual set-up: here, it is the North Koreans who direct their curiosity at the outside world.

THE FANTASTIC FI, 2020, 30’, ko/en

Screenplay: Maija Blåfield Cinematography: Maija Blåfield Production: Maija Blåfield / HÄIVEKUVA

Mahdi Fleifel

3 LOGICAL EXITS DK/LB/GB, 2020, 14’, ar

A sociological meditation on the different ‘exits’ for young people in refugee camps. The director returns to the Lebanese Ain el-Helweh refugee camp to help them.

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians take to the streets to protest the government.

Screenplay: Mahdi Fleifel Cinematography: Mahdi Fleifel, Talal Khoury Production: Mahdi Fleifel / NAKBA FILMWORKS

Alexandre Regol

This black-and-white ballad examines the fights against one of Colombia’s biggest gold-mine projects, set against the backdrop of the Andes and the valley’s inhabitants. Beneath the surface of green, fertile lands lie invisible fields of gold.

EL ORO DE CAJAMARCA

Screenplay: Alexandre Regol Cinematography: Alexandre Regol Production: Alexandre Regol

GOLD OF CAJAMARCA FR, 2019, 15’45’’, es

Gunhild Enger

PLAY SCHENGEN NO, 2020, 14’, no

A gaming company is making a video game for kids about the EU. Each player is a bird who must breed and nest across borders, but only in accordance with its visa.

The question is, can Schengen be made interesting for young people?

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger Cinematography: Øystein Mamen Production: Ingvild Evjemo / 4 ½ FIKSJON

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ON THE VERGE

THURSDAY, 22.10 18:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Diogo Baldaia

DESTINY DELUXE PT, 2019, 30’, pt

We follow three young adults for one day in São Paulo, a city that carries the weight of broken expectations and loss. As reality fails them, destiny creates a virtual space made of memories, desires, and melancholy.

Screenplay: Diogo Baldaia Cinematography: Leonardo Simões Production: TERRATREME / AREOSA

Cora Cruz

Claudio and Ofelia have had a hard day. They both have a late-night conversation in their flat that becomes increasingly intense.

NARANJAS

Screenplay: Cora Cruz Cinematography: Laura Lloris Production: Iván Rivas / JAPÓN FILMS

ORANGES ES, 2020, 18’59’’, es

Kirill Khachaturov

NAKED

RU, 2019, 14’40’’, ru

An accident happens in a laboratory somewhere in Eastern Europe, and a man gains superpowers that he does not want. Things grow worse as the superpowers cause problems in his everyday life. While stuck in a lift, he meets a girl who wants to help.

Screenplay: Kirill Khachaturov, Nina Volova Animation: Kirill Khachaturov, Konstantin Novikov Production: Arina Khachaturova

Julia Orlik

I’M HERE JESTEM TUTAJ PL, 2020, 15’, pl

SHORT RIGA

An elderly man looks after his paralyzed wife. Despite his old age and health problems, he does his best to relieve her suffering, which is worsening daily. His daughter helps him as she tries to balance her work in the hospital and family life.

Screenplay: Julia Orlik Cinematography: Julia Orlik Production: Agata Golańska / THE POLISH NATIONAL FILM, TELEVISION AND THEATRE SCHOOL IN LODZ

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THAT GIRL

THURSDAY, 22.10 20:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Max Sobol

Lucy is a professional dancer, afraid of ending her career; she doesn’t want to stop to even catch her breath.

The film is a reflection of what drives people to be creative, at what cost, and against a backdrop of trying to live a ‘normal’ life.

GB, 2020, 16’33’’, en

Screenplay: Bryony Perkins, Max Sobol Cinematography: Joseph Fathers Production: Max Sobol

Nadja Andrasev

A betrayed wife’s jealousy is gradually replaced by curiosity, and she starts to investigate her husband’s mistresses. Discovering that they are left lonely and dissatisfied, she makes her peace – let the mosquito drain them of their blood.

IT’S NOT AUTUMN YET

SYMBIOSIS FR, 2019, 12’48’’

Screenplay: Nadja Andrasev Animation: Nadja Andrasev Production: Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Orsolya Sipos, József Fülöp / MIYU PRODUCTIONS, SALTO FILMS

Ann Holmgren

NUIT

NO/SE, 2019, 15’, en

A brutal, painful, and beautiful story about our perspective and societal norms. The film is a visual punch-in-theface with the camera coming so close you can catch a whiff of an accursed life. A blind and socially isolated woman wants to be seen.

Screenplay: Ann Holmgren Cinematography: Jenne Lindgreen Production: Ann Holmgren / ANN FILM

Irene Segovia Ponce

OLIVA

ES, 2019, 21’31’’, es

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Oliva is emotionally drained. Her low self-esteem makes her go through her days as a mere spectator. However, this emptiness and meaningless life will give birth to the strength that she needs to feel she can fend for herself.

Screenplay: Irene Segovia Ponce Cinematography: Flavio Rebouças Production: Maricarmen Castillo Abrego, Gisselle Cruz / EICTV

SHORT RIGA

SLIGHTLY LOST

FRIDAY, 23.10 18:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Shoko Hara

JUST A GUY DE, 2020, 15’, en

Three women share glimpses of their affection, attraction and relationship with Richard Ramirez: a serial killer and rapist they contacted after he was convicted and waiting on death row. The director also briefly wrote to him.

Screenplay: Simon Thummet Animation: Valentin Kemmner, Sofiia Melnyk, Shoko Hara, Eliott Deshusses, Matisse Gonzalez, Mona Keil, Nora Marie Back Production: Stefan Michel / STUDIO SEUFZ

Kevin Po-Hao Lee

A RECITAL OF THEIR MISFORTUNES 思爾

US, 2020, 13’31’’, zh

Magda Guidi, Mara Cerri

DREAMS IN A FIELD FR/IT, 2020, 8’41’’

A man sits in a dumpling shop with his wife, recalling the night he lost his mother. The boundaries between his memories and reality gradually blur together the past and the future.

Screenplay: Kevin Po-Hao Lee Cinematography: Stephen Cavaliero Production: Gara Muñoz, Yixin Wang

A boy looks for his cat, but in vain for the cat is about to die and seeks solitude. The boy arrives at the doors of time that separate the dead from the living; he then enters a forest of symbols and memories. He grows up and his illusions dissolve.

Screenplay: Magda Guidi, Mara Cerri Animation: Magda Guidi, Mara Cerri Production: Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Davide Ferazza, Alessandro Giorgio / MIYU PRODUCTIONS, WITHSTAND

Sawandi Groskind

WHERE TO LAND FI, 2020, 15’, fi

On a remote island, a lost woman seeks shelter on a rocky beach. After a security guard demolishes her makeshift hut, she is once again forced into uncertainty.

She finds refuge with a young man who longs to visit his estranged mother.

Screenplay: Sawandi Groskind Cinematography: Karl Henrik Edlund Production: Sawandi Groskind

Jurgis Matulevičius, Paulius Aničas

GOLDEN FLASK AUKSINIS FLAKONAS LT, 2020, 27’, ru

SHORT RIGA

The daily prosaic routine of the poor. Though they live unnoticed by society, they have much greater existential dilemmas than we do; however, they may even be happier. They don’t belong to the world of plenty, yet they don’t seem to care too much.

Screenplay: Jurgis Matulevičius Cinematography: Jurgis Matulevičius Production: Stasys Baltakis / FILM JAM PRODUCTIONS

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NOT THE USUAL

FRIDAY, 23.10 20:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Margaux Guillemard

With only 4 minutes and 33 seconds, how much can one imagine and feel? How many times can one gain and lose trust? The Last Name of John Cage is a calm dialogue between a loud inner tension and the silent one that surrounds.

NL/FR, 2020, 4’33’’, en

Screenplay: Margaux Guillemard Cinematography: Margaux Guillemard Production: Margaux Guillemard

Gabriel Böhmer

Bartholomew Whisper went to the doctor today. There he met administrators keen on experimental surgery, and lonely MRI machines. At least the growing hole in his head was becoming quite beautiful.

THE LAST NAME OF JOHN CAGE

PUSH THIS BUTTON IF YOU BEGIN TO PANIC GB, 2020, 11’, en

Screenplay: Gabriel Böhmer Animation: Gabriel Böhmer Production: Samantha Monk / RATIONAL VAGABUND FILMS

Ariane Boukerche

They salivate is the story of a kiss. A couple kiss each other in their deserted living room. The party begins and one guest drinks the couple’s last kiss.

ILS SALIVENT

Screenplay: Ariane Boukerche Cinematography: Anaïs Ruales Production: Julien Pichard, Jérôme Gallioz / TRANSKOM

THEY SALIVATE FR, 2020, 19’43’’, en/fr

Jacqueline Lentzou

THE END OF SUFFERING (A PROPOSAL)

Sofia is panicky, again. The Universe decides to contact her. An other-worldly dialogue. A planet symphony for Mars, where people dream awake and fight for love.

Screenplay: Jacqueline Lentzou Cinematography: Konstantinos Koukoulios Production: Fenia Cossovitsa

GR, 2020, 14’15’’, el

Katarzyna Gondek

BLUE SMOKE NIEBIESKI DYM PL, 2020, 12’, pl

Laila Pakalniņa

THE FIRST BRIDGE PIRMAIS TILTS LV, 2020, 12’

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A story of a woman who lost her memory in a waffle-maker factory.

Screenplay: Katarzyna Gondek Cinematography: Jarosław Piekarski Production: Artist collective FAJNIE

Krāslava bridge was the first bridge built over the Daugava River in Latvia. This film was shot on Kodak Eastman Plus-X Negative Film 5231, acquired in 1997 and discovered intact in 2018. That is why The First Bridge has been dedicated to film.

Screenplay: Laila Pakalniņa Cinematography: Gints Bērziņš Production: Laila Pakalniņa / HARGLA COMPANY

SHORT RIGA

DEFINING OURSELVES

SATURDAY, 24.10 14:30 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Joscha Bongard

A current reflection on love, sexuality and gender roles.

A Tinder date encourages young Leonid to live his own definition of ‘masculinity’.

JUNG FRAGIL

Screenplay: Joscha Bongard, Felix Schreiber Cinematography: Jakob Sinsel Production: Felix Schreiber, Leopold Pape, Alex Dreissig / FILMAKADEMIE BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG GMBH

YOUNG, FRAGILE DE, 2020, 24’48’’, de

Iris Smeds

THE AVERAGE SE, 2019, 13’49’’, en

A film about the pursuit of mediocrity. Led by a woman dressed in Dalí’s melting clocks, we meet a centipede that breaks in two, a TV anchor and a writer fighting about the separation of the collective, and an Ikaros who no longer wants to burn.

Screenplay: Iris Smeds Cinematography: Lisabi Fridell Production: Elisabeth Marjanović Cronvall / MDEMD

Hanxiong Bo

DRIFTING 漂流

Forced to be disguised as a girl as he grew up, Yan is confused about his identity and struggles with the conservative world around him. Drifting his dad’s old taxi becomes his way of expressing feelings. Tonight he will go find his missing sister.

CN, 2019, 16’25’’, zh

Screenplay: Hanxiong Bo Cinematography: Joewi Verhoeven Production: Lisu Wu, Yilei Hao, Luxi Wang

Claire Doyon

Chrishna became a woman again. As the water goes by, she remembers and tells us. The spirits of the river watch.

CHRISHNA OMBWIRI FR, 2019, 12’, fr

SHORT RIGA

Screenplay: Claire Doyon Cinematography: Claire Doyon Production: ECCE FILMS

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SHORT RIGA

NATIONAL

COMPETITION

In the category of short film, the local film scene is particularly dynamic.

The competition is judged by an international jury to ensure acknowledgement of the unique features of Latvian-made films from a broader perspective. In the opinion of RIGA IFF, however, every film included in the selection is already a winner.

SATURDAY, 24.10 16:00 Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Pēteris Ķimelis

Luxus aeterna put to celluloid: four girls disappear without a trace under mysterious circumstances. Those who loved them go in search of the missing. The two main themes here are love and death.

PIKNIKS DZELZCEĻA MALĀ

Screenplay: Pēteris Ķimelis Cinematography: Inese Tīkmane Production: Pēteris Ķimelis

A PICNIC BY THE RAILWAY LV, 2020, 11’, de

Kārlis Vītols

THE SWAN MAIDEN GULBJU JAUNAVA LV, 2020, 14’34”

Screenplay: Andris Akmentiņš Animation: Jurģis Krāsons Production: Jurģis Krāsons / KRASIVO LIMITED

Jurģis Krāsons

An old plumber is trapped within a system of pipes. He helped build the system, which has collected the bitterness, fear, populism and garbage flushed away by the society above.

IN THE PIPE TRUBĀ LV, 2020, 8’

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When the Swan Maiden falls in love with the Woodcutter, she leaves her world to enter his. This story of a young woman embodies the Latvian mentality of nature, work, silence and solitude.

Screenplay: Andris Akmentiņš Animation: Jurģis Krāsons Production: Jurģis Krāsons / KRASIVO LIMITED SHORT RIGA

Mārcis Lācis

LAST MEAL PĒDĒJĀ MALTĪTE LV, 2020, 7’33’’, lv

Edmunds Jansons

GUARD OF HONOR GODA SARDZE LV, 2020, 5’

Alise Zariņa

II LINES DIVAS STRĪPIŅAS

A bureaucrat who has just declared himself as a new political force has disappeared… in the canteen; police are investigating. Combining the absurd and black humour, a harsh and ironic reflection on civil servants, cops, and contemporary art.

Screenplay: Mārcis Lācis Cinematography: Mārcis Ābele Production: Mārcis Lācis, Daiga Livčāne / LATVIAN ACADEMY OF CULTURE The guards stand in front of the historical symbol of the state. No matter the season or weather, they fulfil their duty, the obligation of honour. Is there a boundary beyond which this honourable credibility begins to look exaggerated?

Screenplay: Edmunds Jansons Animation: Edmunds Jansons Production: Sabīne Andersone / ATOM ART Twelve uncomfortable, deeply personal and painful stories of real women who have had an abortion are read, told and ‘experienced’ by six male actors. What happens when men tell women’s stories?

LV, 2020, 21’, lv

Screenplay: Alise Zariņa Cinematography: Aleksandrs Okonovs Production: Alise Zariņa, Daiga Livčāne / LATVIAN ACADEMY OF CULTURE

Anna Ansone

Elīna returns to the summer house of her childhood to show it to buyers. The visceral presence of her dead grandmother forces her to reflect on the legacy of failing familial relations.

STILL LIFE KLUSĀ DABA LV, 2020, 22’49’’, lv

Screenplay: Anna Ansone Cinematography: Mārtiņš Jurevics Production: Annija Korpa / ACADEMY OF MEDIA ARTS COLOGNE

Kārlis Bergs

A film about the largest managed pollination event in the world. About 2/3 of bees in the US are imported to California yearly to pollinate the almond orchards.

It’s Joe Traynor’s last season as a bee broker, and the bees are in dangerous decline.

THE THRESHOLD LV, 2020, 21’39’’, en

Screenplay: Kārlis Bergs Cinematography: Kārlis Bergs Production: Kārlis Bergs

Matīss Kaža

WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME KAD TU UZ MANI SKATIES LV, 2020, 18’, lv

SHORT RIGA

A director is making a documentary about an actor and his stalker – but the stalker never appears. As the deadline approaches, unusual steps must be taken.

Screenplay: Matīss Kaža Cinematography: Aleksandrs Grebņevs Production: Matīss Kaža / DEEP SEA STUDIOS

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FESTIVAL

DARLINGS

SATURDAY, 25.10 16:00

The most popular short films of 2019 and 2020. These films have been presented in so many different festivals around the world and enchanted so many audiences and professionals that you must see them too!

Jonathan Glazer

Yorgos Lanthimos

GB, 2019, 7’

DE/GB/US, 2019, 11’35’’, en

THE FALL

online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up

Leonor Teles

NIMIC

DOGS BARKING AT BIRDS CÃES QUE LADRAM AOS PÁSSAROS PT, 2019, 20’, pt

The author is sure that the ever-present fear drives people to irrational behaviour and any mob encourages an abdication of personal responsibility. A masked mob cruelly punishes a lone masked man in this nightmarish short film.

Lanthimos claims that this film, with its title only in Romanian, is a long-awaited return to short format. A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway, which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.

School is over, in Porto, tourists fill up the streets and cafés. The old and decadent are now highlights of the city’s gentrification. Vicente rides on his bike, watching the urban landscape modify. The town is no longer the same, and so is he.

Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer Cinematography: Tom Debenham Production: Bugs Hartley, Ash Lockman / BBC FILMS, A24, ACADEMY FILMS

Screenplay: Efthimis Filippou, ​ Yorgos Lanthimos Cinematography: Diego García Production: Adam Saward / REKORDER, SUPERPRIME, MERMAN, DROGA5

Screenplay: Leonor Teles, Vicente Gil, Salvador Gil, María Gil, Francisco Mira Godinho Cinematography: Leonor Teles Production: Leonor Teles, Filipa Reis, João Miller / GUERRA / UMA PEDRA NO SAPATO

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Dorian Jespers

Maja Gehrig

SUN DOG

AVERAGE HAPPINESS

BE/RU, 2020, 20’, ru

CH, 2019, 7’

Fedor is a young locksmith in Murmansk.

Fantasy starts to animate thoughts which isolates him from clients and the city. Dreams corrode relation to reality opening the door to a phantasmagoric universe. A second sun is rising above the Russian Arctic.

Screenplay: Dorian Jespers Cinematography: Arnaud Alberola, Dorian Jespers Production: Gust van den Berghe / KASK, SCUM PICTURES, ATAKA51

During a PowerPoint presentation, statistical diagrams are breaking free from coordinates. A trip into the sensual world of statistics begins. Pie charts are melting, arrow diagrams twisting, bar graphs and stock market curves join to the climax.

Screenplay: Maja Gehrig Animation: Maja Gehrig, Stefan Holaus Production: Olivier Zobrist / LANGFILM

SHORT RIGA

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PERSONA

GUNHILD ENGER FILMMAKER I come from the Norwegian countryside – I’m not from a traditional film school setting. I like to think of it as a strength that I did not go to any national film schools, but had a more alternative and varied education in art schools – where you are pretty much left to yourself.

I never had to do or learn the classic stuff, so I just did my shit; it was not always good, but it ended up as some weird short films that try to mix drama and comedy in an absurd way.

Part of why I’ve done so many short films is because it‘s super-rewarding to have finished work in front of me. It is also about my development as a filmmaker, which I’ve done throughout short films.

I can’t say that my focus has always been harsh realism, but I have always felt the need to portray the world as I see it, with all its flaws and unintended humour. Growing up, I did not see my life on screen;

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if anything, perhaps in English kitchen sink dramas. I wanted to see people of all ranges, shapes and sounds, and who mirrored my perception of the world.

I think I have always had a feministic approach, but I have not always been so aware of it. I belong to generation X (1965-1980).

We grew up in an open world and have been encouraged to seek new experiences, travel, and get a higher education. We thought we had all the freedom we could dream of. However, what I came to realize, slowly but surely, is that both the real structures and the really important mending of society are still very patriarchal. By this I mean the flow of power, money, and sex. It is not a very free world – there’s a big discrepancy between what I was brought up to believe that I could do, and how I felt I was received. Men have made each other stronger for decades, by recommending and talking about their work. We all need to do the same, across genders and backgrounds. Be aware of your own power and your ability to make a difference by what you say and do.

SHORT RIGA

In emphasizing the scope of interests of SHORT RIGA – personality driven film and auteur cinema – we cherish the tradition of introducing audiences to a world-famous filmmaker in a retrospective of their work.

Gunhild Enger represents the new generation of Norwegian directors and has earned the attention of world film festivals. Her works are characterised by a distinctive aesthetic and rhythm, as well as robust self-irony mixed with the black humour of traditional cinema.

Gunhild Enger, Marius Ektvedt

PASSION PASJON NO, 2008, 13’, no

Gunhild Enger

SUBTOTAL NO, 2014, 19’, no

TUESDAY, 20.10 19:00 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 16 and up A scene from Edward Hopper’s paintings.

A middle-aged woman comes home from shopping. Takes off her clothes, has a bath, goes to the bed, and lies down. Directors, maintaining an unyielding tension, reveal reflection on middle-aged sexuality.

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger, Marius Ektvedt Cinematography: Jon Gaute Espevold Producer: Guro Sætereie / NEACO MEDIA What is the true cost of a bargain?

Subtotal is a story of an untraditional encounter between a Swedish salesman and a Norwegian couple on their monthly bargain hunting at the border between Norway and Sweden.

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger Cinematography: Peter Ask Producers: Gudrun Austli, Agnethe Sophie Buus Jensen

Gunhild Enger

PREMATURE PREMATUR NO, 2012, 16’, en/no/es

Gunhild Enger

A SIMPLER LIFE ETT ENKLARE LIV NO, 2013, 14’, sv

Their first 15 minutes together on this soil.

A Norwegian guy and his Spanish girlfriend arrive in Norway. Her first encounter with the culture of the future. A car trip from the airport full of social tensions, expectations and misunderstandings.

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger Cinematography: Marte Vold Producer: Gudrun Austli A hot late-summer day in a private home: Ing-Marie trains her body and tidies the house while Carl is working in the garden. Some inventions are supposed to make life easier and us blessed, however sometimes they actually make it more complicated.

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger Cinematography: Linda Wassberg Producer: Cecilia M. Torquato

Gunhild Enger, Jenni Toivoniemi

THE COMMITTEE KOMMITTÉN NO, 2016, 14’, en/sv/no/fi

SHORT RIGA

The absurdity of democratic decision-making.

Three delegates from Sweden, Norway and Finland are gathered in Lapland to decide on an art piece.

Screenplay: Gunhild Enger, Jenni Toivoniemi Cinematography: Jarmo Kiuru, Annika Summerson Producers: Marie Kjellson, Elli Toivoniemi, Isak Eymundsson / APE & BJØRN, TUFFI FILMS Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

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SHORT RIGA

BALTIC

MUSIC VIDEO

CURATOR’S GREETING

Agnese Logina Curator, Baltic Music Video Competition The Baltic Music Video Competition (or BMV, as we call it) seeks to demonstrate that music video is a standalone, self-sustaining and powerful short format that captures and documents the realities of the modern world while also creating new ways of experiencing the genre.

Convinced that music videos can be viewed as a work of art and not just as a TV-friendly advertisement for new music, our curators look for music videos that not only achieve an ideal balance between audio and video but that also challenge audiences by extending the accepted boundaries of format, content, and art.

BMV is different every year, which is why viewers can always expect a completely new experience. This year’s programme is truly diverse: it includes works created in complete solitude as well as works involving large teams consisting of dozens of people. Within this variety every viewer will find something special; moreover, the Baltic music video scene is becoming increasingly daring, experimental, and original.

This time we will be meeting in a smaller group than usual – foreign guests and the jury will join us remotely. But the most important thing is that we can still watch and reflect together on what a music video really is, what it does, and why the development of this format is worth exploring in the context of the film festival. At the end of the screening, the winners will receive prizes! Admission to the screening will be free: come and take your friends with you to enjoy this unique event together!

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BMV INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY

Krista Burāne

Dāvis Eņģelis

Otto Kylmälä

Krista Burāne is an artist who works on an interdisciplinary scale and in various cultural fields – documentary film, theatre, photography, and education. Her works always have a socially active position and invite the viewer to participate and co-create – not only on the specific work of art but in life in general. Burāne’s works have received both the Latvian National Film Award Lielais Kristaps and a Latvian Theater Award (Spēlmaņu nakts balva), and have been shown at theatre and film festivals in London, Copenhagen, The Hague, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Moscow, and elsewhere.

Dāvis Eņģelis is a musicologist, music reviewer, and programme host on Latvian Radio 3 Klasika. He has written for the magazine Mūzikas Saule and many other cultural media. He is currently studying for his doctorate, and is interested in the interaction of music and language.

In 2018, he received the Young Critics Award at the Normunds Naumanis Art Critic of the Year Awards ceremony.

Otto Kylmälä is a Finnish filmmaker, film critic, who has served as a jury member for short film and music video competitions, as well as an artistic director for several film festivals. His latest work as a producer, The Moonshiners (Salaviinanpolttajat, 2017) was nominated as the best short film in the Finnish Oscar’s. Currently is the programmer of the Finnish Film Archive’s cinematheque in Helsinki.

Zane Onckule

Etienne Tricard

Zane Onckule is an experienced curator and a Programme Director and Curator at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga.

She has organised, curated and co-curated exhibitions, parallel programming as well as edited publications in collaboration with a wide range of artists, curators and theoreticians. Interested in the artistic modes of language, writing, anti-production, and notion of retreat, all seen through the perspective of art practices and their conditions.

Etienne Tricard is the music curator for Les Arcs Film Festival, a major cultural event with a focus on the promotion of European talents in its diversity and A&R. Music Supervisor at My Melody working on films, series and ads, co-founder of Baguette Publishing, home for emerging indie musicians and manager of Australian artist Merryn Jeann and French band Why Mud.

SHORT RIGA

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BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION Jaan Sinka

ARABELLA OUU SINGLE, 2020

Marta Elīna Martinsone

ES TEVI UZSPERŠU GAISĀ ORANŽĀS BRĪVDIENAS SINGLE, 2020

Agata Melnikova

SEA OF ISLANDS SIGN LIBRA ALBUM: SEA TO SEA, 2020

Kristjan Tenso

NU REALITY LEXSOUL DANCEMACHINE ALBUM: LEXPLOSION II, 2020

Zbanski Kino

KÄPAPUU PUULUUP SINGLE, 2020

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SATURDAY, 24.10 13:00 Splendid Palace Large hall

For audiences age 16 and up A lovely day stock-footage-like in the park crowned by an overtly friendly battle of badminton. But wait, here come the men in black – the “bad boys” of the public park world, ready to wreak havoc as darker clouds begin to grab a hold of a lovely summer’s afternoon. A battle to remember!

Ever wondered where mythical superheroes go when their assistance is not needed? Wonder no more: this music video gives you all the answers! However, when duty calls they’re here – and ready to save the day. This explosive music video gives a fresh take on an already overused topic and makes it fun.

What do you get when you give a woman an empty room and a song? You get this: three minutes of otherworldly bliss that reminds you of everything at once: the 1990s fashion, Windows XP screen saver and warm summer evening’s light. And it’s impossible to take your eyes off the screen as you simply cannot predict what will happen next.

How do you assert your dominance in a new place? How do you prove that you’re the new big thing, even if the place you’re competing for is very small? Well, of course you challenge your opponents to an epic dance battle. Just don’t judge too quickly – you never know what epic moves others have up their sleeves.

Käpapuu (Paw Tree) is a song about decaying trees in the swamp which you can strike down with just one paw blow. This term comes from one of the band member’s grandfather. The video transports us to a slightly surreal and unknown terrain where people hang in trees and fall down from the sky in a forest.

SHORT RIGA

Dree

MŪŽĪBA OZOLS ALBUM: NEONA PILSĒTA, 2018

Anna Ansone

FINE LINE EZERI ALBUM: SĀLS, 2019

Titas Sūdžius

DANSINGAS SOLO ANSAMBLIS SINGLE, 2019

Frank-Leander Sapego

TUUSAD TÜDRUKUD ON TUUSAD MEES INC. SINGLE, 2020

Antons Barons

ARKANAR ARTURS SKUTELIS ALBUM: LAVĪNA, 2019

Lizete Upīte

YOU WERE THE LIGHT MARIAM SAIDAN SINGLE, 2019

SHORT RIGA

The protagonist takes a surreal journey to find answers about eternity. He arrives at magical and powerful landscapes that have some seriously mysterious vibes.

This is the last chapter of a journey called Neon city (Ozols’ previous album) and as such, it offers some final answers.

A boy band from the city moves to the countryside to escape the city chaos. It’s idyllic, charming and soothing, and you can feel time slowing down. Even if you’re in the middle of a busy festival, you will feel more relaxed after spending a few minutes with them in the countryside.

Everybody is ready for the arrival of a prophet. When he comes, the city greets him with open arms and media attention.

However, it turns out he’s a false prophet, blindsiding everybody with his impeccable sense of style. But even such false prophets can leave behind something permanent.

Just keep zooming into a guy. He’s in every frame, just living his life in the seemingly deserted city and never breaking eye contact. It seems like he’s looking for some company but we can never get close enough to know that for sure.

The city of Arkanar is a fictional place where fanaticism has replaced science, ideology has replaced truth and lust has replaced love. Without imposing any specific signs of space-time, the creators of the music video tried to show man’s departure from this city, its infernal nature and destruction.

You were the light shining through the blinds, sings Mariam. And the accompanying animation creates such a warm feeling that for a moment, we also are bound to believe in miracles. This minimalistic video yet again proves that sometimes, indeed less is more.

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Jānis Ābele

LAIKA ZIŅA BALOŽU PILNI PAGALMI SINGLE, 2020

Janar Aronija

MILKA

JOZELS SINGLE, 2020

Ivar Murd & Zbanski Kino

DOWN THE RIVER VERA VICE ALBUM: VERA VERSA, 2020

Artūrs Streļuks

KĀDĀ KRĀSĀ SUB SCRIPTUM ALBUM: 21. GS. MODE, 2020

Ignė Narbutaitė, Kabloonak

BRUISES ON HER LEGS

KABLOONAK ALBUM: KABLOONAK, 2019

Toms Upītis

RIŅĶA DEJA (KRIEVU RULETE) ROLANDS ČE SINGLE, 2020

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Partly a contemporary music video, partly a documentary about the legendary underground band Baložu pilni pagalmi (Backyards full of pigeons). This is a journey through their history while also staying in touch with the contemporary audience.

This video captures a serious yearning for social celebrations. After all, probably we all had such feverish quarantine dreams.

This dream is in neon and shows the longing for an audience, for somebody to look at you even if you’re falling apart.

If it was possible to capture the feelings of a slow afternoon it would look like this.

There is a deep yearning to go somewhere else - there’s always somewhere else - and down the river we could go, but that would mean we’d have to leave here. And here is good.

In a world that’s full of colours and different opinions, it’s easy to lose track of what’s truly important, and it’s easy to lose your own peace of mind. What happens when you lose all colours is a crazy and breathtaking party where everybody is losing their minds equally.

It’s autumn in a city. People are going somewhere, every frame is filled with movement but nothing can shake off the feeling of melancholy. And the omnipresent camera keeps sliding over their heads to show us angles that somebody would maybe rather keep hidden.

An electric combination of love and hate, fear, and faith driving the story to the ultimate bittersweet end. The artist takes his demons and angels by the hand and bursts into a reckless circle dance at the table of Russian roulette from which the only one can continue on.

SHORT RIGA

Janar Aronija

TEHKE RUUMI! TRAD.ATTACK! ALBUM: MAKE YOUR MOVE, 2020

Pijus VÄ—beris

LIAR

DADDY WAS A MILKMAN SINGLE, 2020

SHORT RIGA

A woman moves in a house that turns out to not be empty. The haunted house terrifies us into a hellish psychedelic transformation that not even a professional sorceress can stop. But not all transformations are scary, especially this one that ends with a bunch of half naked sweaty men dancing in a circle.

The team wanted to explore Vilnius and meet real people, see their workplaces and look for authenticity. What happened was an exploration of the city with an Arriflex 435 (a huge 35 mm film camera) while searching for people who would admit that they have lied to either themselves or others. The result is this: a myriad of brave people owning up to their lies.

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KID

S WEEKEND

FILM FEAST FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY A weekend film programme for kids and everyone who is young at heart! A selection of new European releases made for children that also star children. These films are festival exclusives for the most part, and make for an exceptional and exciting cultural experience for the whole family. The selected works are not only entertaining

but also respect and understand their young viewers by encouraging self-contemplation and the broadening of one’s horizons.

They can also serve as the beginning of valuable conversations with peers, parents and teachers!

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CURATOR’S GREETING

Jon Holmberg

SUNE VS. SUNE SE, 2018, 89’, sv For audiences age 5 and up

Kristīne Simsone Curator, KIDS WEEKEND This year we had to unexpectedly come to the realisation that the safest gatherings and the most unforgettable journeys can be experienced only through the movies. We sit down in front of a screen, the opening credits appear, and with each subsequent frame we travel further into the world of the film’s heroes – a world which, at least for a while, becomes ours as well.

Although you may have recently experienced quite a few journeys through a screen, the RIGA IFF children’s film programme KIDS WEEKEND will likely be a pleasant surprise.

It will bring a joyful reunion with the cheerful and curious Shammies as well as other characters from short films that have been brought to life by creative animators from various European countries.

The KIDS WEEKEND feature film section, for its part, is dedicated to the theme of family.

You’ll feel lighthearted compassion for the Swedish boy Sune, who much like Emil of Lönneberga, gets himself into all sorts of predicaments; you’ll experience rebellious and summery adventures in a small Slovak town reminiscent of those in Latvia; and you’ll surely be moved to the bottom of your heart as you witness the strength of family ties in Romy’s Salon, one of the best children’s films of last year.

A compact and adventurous selection of the latest European feature films tailored to children of school age. Covering a wide variety of genres and emotional styles, this spectrum of feature-length films will allow the viewer to discover great cinematic storytelling while inspiring reflection.

Films that surprise, thrill, and make you gasp in amazement!

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Autumn has brought unexpected changes and surprises to the wonderful Andersson family. Fourth grader Sune’s father, mother, older sister and little brother become his support team when a new classmate – who is better than Sune at everything – makes school life difficult. To top it all off, the new classmate is also called Sune!

A lively and humour-filled story about awkward situations and overcoming bitterness and fear, as well as about the power of sincerity as experienced by both children and adults alike. The film is based on a popular Swedish children’s book series by Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson, which director Jon Holmberg grew up reading. The authors have now developed Sune further so his character evolves with the times.

Screenplay: Jon Holmberg, Daniella Mendel-Enk Cinematography: Erik Persson Cast: Elis Gerdt, John Österlund, Lily Wahlsteen, Baxter Renman Production: Linus Stöhr Torell, Malin Söderlund / UNLIMITED STORIES / NORDISK FILM, FILM I VAEST, SVT, NOUVAGO CAPITAL

There seems to be no limit to the imagination of a 4th-grader – to put it on the screen, special effects are essential. online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 13:30

Jon Holmberg

Mischa Kamp

Martina Saková

KAPSALON ROMY

SOMMER-REBELLEN

NL, 2019, 92’, nl For audiences age 9 and up

DE/SK, 2020, 92’, cs/sk/de For audiences age 7 and up

Sune’s class is going on a secret school trip. Sune and his classmate Sophie are really looking forward to spending time together when Sune suddenly realizes that Grandpa Helmer’s wedding is the same weekend. Panic! Class trip with Sophie, or his best friend Grandpa? Sune can’t make his mind up so decides to do both. Or something in between.

Romy’s mother has to work a lot. That’s why Romy goes to her grandmother every day after school. If you think that sounds like fun, then you’re wrong, because Grandma Stine is very busy working in her hairdressing salon and is very strict.

But everything changes when Romy discovers a totally different side to her grannie’s character.

This is screenwriter and director Jon Holmberg’s second film about the adventures of the Andersson family. This time, Sune pulls everyone into a whirlwind journey, and while his father has suspicions about Grandpa’s bride, his mother runs into an old flame. The film received four nominations for the Swedish film industry’s Guldbagge Awards, and was also a nominee for the Generation Kplus Best Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

At last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, this powerful and touching work was named the best film adaptation of a children’s book, while at the prestigious International Children’s Film Festival in Kristiansand, Norway, it was singled out as the best European youth film of the year. Moreover, at Cinekid – the largest international film, television and new media festival for children held in the Netherlands, Romy’s Salon won the Cinekid 2019 Award for Best Dutch Family Film.

Eleven-year-old Jonas lives in Germany together with his mother and little brother. Mom’s idea to spend their summer holidays at the seaside doesn’t seem appealing at all, so the boy flees to his cool grandpa Bernard’s place in Slovakia.

It turns out that grandpa’s life has gone off the rails. The boy is not going to accept it as immutable. He befriends a girl next door and makes crazy plans to cheer the old man up and start a profitable business.

Screenplay: Jon Holmberg Cinematography: Erik Persson Cast: Elis Gerdt, Baxter Renman, Tea Stjärne, Fredrik Hallgren Production: Linus Stöhr Torell, Malin Söderlund / UNLIMITED STORIES / NORDISK FILM, FILM I VAEST, SVT

Screenplay: Tamara Bos Cinematography: Melle van Essen Cast: Vita Heijmen, Beppie Melissen, Noortje Herlaar, Guido Pollemans Production: Bernard Gerrit Bos, Eefje Smulders / BOSBROS / LEITWOLF FILMPRODUKTION

The challenge to the viewers – how long can you last without laughing?

A touching view of the empathy and concern we are able to feel for our families.

The film’s environment and many details are reminiscent of Latvia – this story could easily be about us, too!

online.rigaiff.lv Saturday, 17.10 16:00

online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 13:30

online.rigaiff.lv Sunday, 18.10 16:00

SUNE – BEST MAN

ROMY’S SALON

SE, 2019, 90’, sv For audiences age 5 and up

KIDS WEEKEND

SUMMER REBELS

An exciting comedy about mutual support and overcoming obstacles. Touching on serious topics, the director wanted to show how determined the younger generation is to shape reality according to their own designs and to challenge the existing rules with their actions when adults are ready to give up.

Screenplay: Sülke Schulz, Martina Saková Cinematography: Jieun Yi Cast: Eliáš Vyskočil, Pavel Nový, Liana Pavlíková, Kaya Marie Möller Production: Martin Kleinmichel, Katarína Krnáčová / PROJECTOR23, SILVERART

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KIDS WEEKEND

SHAMMIES The main characters of the short-film series Shammies – Sockie, Hankie, Mitten and Pillow – live in a textile house where they learn about the world around them while under the watchful eye of Mr. Cat. The Shammies’ tireless imagination and exciting adventures are brought to life as an animated collage made from pieces of fabric, buttons, ribbons and lace. ‘These are wonderful toys, and it is even more interesting to play with them than with fancy dolls. The properties of things allow you to imagine their personalities, and then the story begins. This is how small children play, as do we, the creators of Shammies,’ says writer Inese Zandere.

SATURDAY, 17.10 11:00

Over the last ten years, Shammies has become beloved by cinema-goers all over Latvia and beyond. These short films are the first experience that many tykes have with locally made cinema.

This autumn, the first six short films and two web episodes will see the addition of three new series in which the cloth children will travel without leaving home, learn to keep track of time, and have breakfast together.

Made by the studio Atom Art, the creators of Shammies are: screenwriter Inese Zandere; director Edmunds Jansons; Reinis Pētersons, design; composer Jēkabs Nīmanis; sound editor Ģirts Bišs; lead animator Mārtiņš Dūmiņš; and producer Sabīne Andersone.

Splendid Palace Large hall & online.rigaiff.lv For audiences age 3 and up

PREMIERES HOW SHAMMIES TRAVELLED KĀ LUPATIŅI CEĻOJA LV, 2020, 5’, lv

HOW SHAMMIES HAD BREAKFAST KĀ LUPATIŅI BROKASTOJA LV, 2020, 5’, lv

HOW SHAMMIES TOLD TIME KĀ LUPATIŅI SKAITĪJA LAIKU LV, 2020, 5’, lv

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Hankie proposes to travel around the house with eyes closed. Space under the table suddenly turns into a dragon’s cave, the stairs – into snowy cliffs, but the bed is drifting in the roaring sea. Everything turns so exciting and luring. The trip ends up on an island and it is so unusually soft!

Besides it takes tired Shammies to clean their teeth...

Sockie invites Shammies to have breakfast, but one chair is missing at the table.

Mitten thinks that Pillow is sitting on his chair, as it is his chair that can gallop like a horse. Pillow finds his chair with Hankie sitting on it, Hankie finds his with Sockie, Sockie – with Mitten. All Shammies’ chairs are galloping, swinging, and swirling, then Mr. Cat realizes what’s the matter.

Enjoy your meal, Shammies!

Shammies are bored and Mr. Cat promises them they would all go for a walk to park. And they would go at three o’clock.

When exactly is it going to happen?

Shammies are trying to figure out what the watch tells. Could they make the time pass faster? It doesn’t work out, but they learn to count it. Counting seconds and minutes is so exciting, they forget about the park. They don’t have time!

HOW SHAMMIES BUILT A HOUSE KĀ LUPATIŅI BŪVĒJA MĀJU

Shammies long to have a pet. Everyone is ready to build a house for it. When the houses are ready, it turns out – everyone has meant a different pet. They should agree somehow.

LV, 2015, 5’, lv

HOW SHAMMIES WERE GETTING MARRIED

Shammies are playing Chutes and Ladders. Sockie would rather do something else, like, got married. But to whom?

KĀ LUPATIŅI PRECĒJĀS LV, 2014, 5’, lv

HOW SHAMMIES TIDIED-UP KĀ LUPATIŅI KĀRTOJA MĀJU

It is not possible to find anything anymore. Mr. Cat suggests spring-cleaning.

To tidy up the house, Shammies need to find out where each thing lives. Where does Winter live?

LV, 2015, 5’, lv

KIDS WEEKEND

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KIDS WEEKEND

ANIMATED

SHORT FILMS

This film screening is especially suitable for preschoolers. With a total running length of under an hour, the selected group of short films brings together works from the best and most tradition-rich animation studios in Europe. Masterfully designed, diverse and different from everyday options, these are animated works that touch and delight the soul.

SUNDAY, 18.10 11:00 online.rigaiff.lv

For audiences age 3 and up

Bianca Mansani

A young girl throws her grandmother’s daily routine into creative chaos when she visits her tailoring workshop.

L’ATELIER

Screenplay: Bianca Mansani Animation: Bianca Mansani Production: LA POUDRIÈRE

THE ATELIER FR, 2019, 4’

Nina Bisiarina

A LYNX IN THE CITY UN LYNX DANS LA VILLE FR/CH, 2020, 6’48”

Raúl Robin Morales Reyes

A TIGER WITH NO STRIPES LE TIGRE SANS RAYURES FR/CH, 2019, 8’40”

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A curious lynx leaves its forest, attracted by the lights of the nearby town. It has great fun there until it falls asleep in the middle of a parking lot.

Screenplay: Nina Bisiarina Animation: Siergiej Gizila, Morten Riisberg Hansen, Marc Robinet Production: Reginald de Guillebon, Nicolas Burlet / FOLIMAGE, NADASDY FILM A little tiger decides to take a long journey in search of his stripes.

Screenplay: Raúl Robin Morales Reyes Animation: Marc Robinet, Pierre Bouvier, Morten Riisberg Hansen Production: Reginald de Guillebon, Nicolas Burlet / FOLIMAGE, NADASDY FILM

KIDS WEEKEND

Caroline Attia-Larivière

Colin lives with his grandfather who goes narwhal hunting. The boy learns the secrets of the Far North.

AU PAYS DE L’AURORE BORÉALE

Screenplay: Caroline Attia-Larivière Animation: Marc Robinet, Siergiej Gizila, Morten Riisberg Hansen Voices: Pierre Bianco, Vito Burkhardt, Frédérique Espitalier Production: Reginald de Guillebon, Nicolas Burlet / FOLIMAGE, NADASDY FILM

NORTHERN LIGHTS FR/CH, 2019, 15’, fr

Martina Svojíková

SO HIGH UP TOUT LÀ-HAUT FR/BE, 2019, 12’44”, fr

Aliona Baranova

LEAF LISTEK

CZ, 2020, 6’

Edmunds Jansons

HOW SHAMMIES TRAVELLED KĀ LUPATIŅI CEĻOJA LV, 2020, 5’, lv

Edmunds Jansons

HOW SHAMMIES HAD BREAKFAST KĀ LUPATIŅI BROKASTOJA LV, 2020, 5’, lv

A family of giraffes is spending their holidays in a far-away forest. The baby giraffe gets lost and meets some of the animals that live there, even the grumpy squirrel.

Screenplay: Wouter van Haver Animation: Martina Svojíková Production: LES FILMS DU NORD / LA BOÎTE,… PRODUCTIONS

The big, gentle sailor has everything under control. Alas, as he touches the red leaf of autumn that a little passenger left him, he can’t help but think of home.

Screenplay: Aliona Baranova Animation: Aliona Baranova Production: Lukáš Gregor / UNIVERSITY OF TOMAS BATA IN ZLÍN

Hankie proposes to travel around the house with eyes closed. Space under the table suddenly turns into a dragon’s cave, the stairs – into snowy cliffs, but the bed is drifting in the roaring sea. The trip ends up on an island and it is so unusually soft! Besides it takes tired Shammies to clean their teeth…

Screenplay: Inese Zandere Animation: Mārtiņš Dūmiņš Production: Sabīne Andersone / ATOM ART Sockie invites Shammies to have breakfast, but there is one chair missing at the table. All Shammies’ chairs are galloping, swinging, and swirling, then Mr. Cat realizes what’s the matter. Enjoy your meal, Shammies!

Screenplay: Inese Zandere Animation: Mārtiņš Dūmiņš Production: Sabīne Andersone / ATOM ART

Edmunds Jansons

Shammies are bored and Mr. Cat promises them they would all go for a walk to park.

And they would go at three o’clock. When exactly is it going to happen? Shammies are trying to figure out what the watch tells.

KĀ LUPATIŅI SKAITĪJA LAIKU

Screenplay: Inese Zandere Animation: Mārtiņš Dūmiņš Production: Sabīne Andersone / ATOM ART

HOW SHAMMIES TOLD TIME LV, 2020, 5’, lv

KIDS WEEKEND

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RIGA IFF

SPECIAL EVENT

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Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja

ANIARA

SE, 2018, 106, sv For audiences age 16 and up As human-caused environmental catastrophes become too destructive, spacecraft with colonists leave Earth for Mars. One of these spacecraft goes off course and the captain must inform the passengers that instead of three weeks, the journey will last two years. There are many forms of entertainment on board, such as MIMA, a virtual-reality experience that immerses the user in a version of their own memories of Earth. It eventually becomes clear that the passengers will never reach their destination, a fact that becomes psychologically unbearable for many.

The situation only becomes worse when MIMA decides to self-destruct rather than provide support for a species that has destroyed its own planet. Years pass…

Aniara is the title of a cycle of poems written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson in 1956. The film’s directors felt the urge to recreate the work on film due to the many current environmental processes eliciting a sense of the apocalyptic.

Unusual for the science fiction genre is the casting of women as the main protagonists in the film. To both increase the film’s claustrophobic effect and encourage contemplating the future of humanity, the Göteborg Film Festival gave the public the option to view the film in a custom-made sarcophagus equipped with a screen, speakers, ventilation, and a panic button.

Screenplay: Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja Cinematography: Sophie Winqvist Loggins Cast: Emelie Jonsson, Arvin Kananian, Bianca Cruzeiro, Anneli Martini Production: Annika Rogell / META FILM STOCKHOLM PRODUCTION / MORETTI FILMS, VIAPLAY, FILM CAPITAL STOCKHOLM FUND, GOTLANDS FILMFOND

After the screening – the discussion Life During Climate Change What do we have in our power to prevent the seemingly inevitable – life-threatening escalations of the climate crisis, while still living fully and not suffering from emotional exhaustion due to anticipation of the apocalypse. Appreciating nature – both individually and at the level of public processes.

Moderator – Sandra Kropa, journalist Participants: Jānis Brizga, climate expert; Artis Svece, philosopher; as well as Andrejs Briedis, Chairman of the Council of the Latvian Fund for Nature; and Beāte Bērziņa (Beta Beidz), Youtuber and programme host.

An intriguing and, at the same time, distressing view of what our future may look like after the climate crisis.

National Library of Latvia & online.rigaiff.lv Thursday, 22.10 19:00

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RIGA IFF FORUM The RIGA IFF FORUM programme includes a series of film industry events dedicated to experienced industry professionals as well as students and young filmmakers. Every year, RIGA IFF FORUM hosts a wide range of lectures, discussions, presentations, meetings and networking events.

Launched in 2016, RIGA IFF FORUM is tailored to fit the needs of the film industry of the Nordic region. The festival’s industry section encompasses the fields of animation and short film, and is paving the road for partnership between film and immersive media.

More information about registration online – forum.rigaiff.lv

15.10 — 25.10

17.10 SATURDAY

During the course of the festival, all industry event (RIGA IFF FORUM) guests and participants will be able to see the newest and upcoming Latvian films online.

17.10 10:00–18.10 14:00

LATVIAN FILM SHOWCASE

16.10 FRIDAY

RIGA IFF GOES XR INSPIRATIONAL TALKS 09:00–14:00

A session of inspirational talks that will address a variety of topics about the creation and use of XR, including its backbone – storytelling. This event builds bridges between cinema and the world of XR, offering valuable knowledge in creating stories in XR mediums, working on XR scenarios and – most importantly – using the creative power of alternative realities for empowerment and socially beneficial causes. This set of inspirational talks is suited for all levels of expertise – whether you are just planning your first steps in XR or are already a seasoned expert, this event will broaden your horizons!

Online, prior registration

RIGA IFF GOES XR HACKATHON

Put your newly acquired (or polished) skills into action and test your abilities at the RIGA IFF GOES XR hackathon! An exciting and inspiring experience, this hackathon in a film festival is a testing ground that welcomes participants with all levels of expertise and from diverse professional backgrounds! Here you can explore or take your first steps in the creation of XR content under the guidance of seasoned XR mentors, completely free of charge. We are passionate about quality audiovisual content that can benefit everyone – from children and youth to educators and larger communities. Therefore, to keep the focus on these ideas, the only requirement for participants is to develop ideas that can be used for educational purposes – at schools, museums, social services, you name it!

You can join as part of a team, or individually and find teammates on the spot! We will use Zoom and Slack as the main platforms of communication among participants, mentors and moderators.

Online, prior registration

18.10 SUNDAY

RIGA IFF GOES XR PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS 14:00–16:00

Tune in to virtually attend the hackathon project presentations and awards to see what kind of educational XR solutions were developed during the third RIGA IFF hackathon!

Online, prior registration

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21.10 WEDNESDAY

22.10 THURSDAY

23.10 FRIDAY

17:00–19:00

11:00–14:00

10:00–13:00

GREEN CHARTER FOR FILM FESTIVALS

The Green Charter For Film Festivals is an initiative that calls for 2020 to be seen as the starting point for an everimproving practice of organising more environmentally friendly festivals. Every film festival, regardless of its size, is invited to improve its environmental impact on its own city and country.

The main goal is to create a platform where information about practical environmental-friendly solutions in various stages of festival organising is gathered; a platform where festival representatives can share their ideas, experiences, recommendations for service providers, etc. The Green Charter does not call for strict guidelines on how to organise the ‘greenest’ festival; it is a community that helps each festival be more aware of its activities and their impact on the environment, and to commit to improving with each year.

In the framework of RIGA IFF, several lectures and a discussion will be devoted to the Green Charter initiative during which both event organisers and filmmakers, as well as festival attendees, will be able to learn more about environmentally friendly filmmaking, festival organising and each person’s responsibility in this time of climate change. The short lectures will be accompanied by international film festival and project case studies. In addition, the discussion organised in partnership with the Latvian Fund for Nature will draw attention to topical issues and will help in developing the goals set by each.

Online, prior registration

SHORT RIGA TEST SCREENINGS I

SHORT RIGA TEST SCREENINGS II

SHORT RIGA Test Screenings consists of closed screenings of short films by Baltic directors, after which an international panel of experts provides feedback and recommendations for finishing the films or suggestions on festival strategy.

SHORT RIGA Test Screenings consists of closed screenings of short films by Baltic directors, after which an international panel of experts provides feedback and recommendations for finishing the films or suggestions on festival strategy.

The curators of SHORT RIGA Test Screenings select twelve promising shortform works by directors either residing in or born in the Baltics. Various techniques and genres are accepted. The films are evaluated by a commission of experts that changes yearly so as to guarantee in-depth evaluations from different perspectives. What remains unchanged is the basic principle: to gather together representatives of notable film festivals and talent scouts. The screenings should serve as a springboard for getting the selected films into the festival circuit.

The curators of SHORT RIGA Test Screenings select twelve promising shortform works by directors either residing in or born in the Baltics. Various techniques and genres are accepted. The films are evaluated by a commission of experts that changes yearly so as to guarantee in-depth evaluations from different perspectives. What remains unchanged is the basic principle: to gather together representatives of notable film festivals and talent scouts. The screenings should serve as a springboard for getting the selected films into the festival circuit.

Online, prior registration

Online, prior registration

BALTIC ANIMATION MEET-UP PORTFOLIO

24.10 SATURDAY

15:00–17:00

Participants (individuals and studios) will each have 5 minutes to present themselves and how they are involved in the animation industry. Those who are currently working on something will have time to introduce their projects.

Portfolio presentations are dedicated to getting to know each other. Last year proved that this is a great space to start new collaborations and co-productions, so don’t hesitate to reach out and share your work!

Online, prior registration

BALTIC ANIMATION MEET-UP MASTERCLASS BY GINTS ZILBALODIS 11:00–13:00

Gints Zilbalodis will share what he learned while making his feature debut Away, which won the Contrechamp Award for Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film festival in 2019. He will also reveal what goes on behind the scenes in the creative process for his upcoming film Flow.

Online and in person, prior registration

Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

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WHERE ARE THE TICKETS? This year RIGA IFF will welcome cinephiles both in person and online.

For the first time in the festival’s history, we will be coming to homes all throughout Latvia!

Just be attentive and plan ahead – the online movie screenings have specific start and end times, as well as a limited number of viewers.

Tickets can be purchased on the festival’s website RIGAIFF.LV and at Biļešu Serviss ticket offices.

You must also get a ticket for the free screenings!

Find out more:

RIGAIFF.LV

ON-SITE Regular screenings

6€ – 7,5€

Discount for school children, students, pensioners, persons with disabilities, and members of the Latvian Filmmakers Union (the appropriate document must be presented at the entrance).

5€ – 6,5€

ONLINE online.rigaiff.lv

If you have purchased an online movie ticket, follow these five steps:

One ticket per each pair of eyes! We invite our online guests to be honest and to support the festival by purchasing a ticket for each viewer.

Regular screenings

5€ – 6,5€

SHORT RIGA screenings

4€

KIDS WEEKEND screenings

5€

KIDS WEEKEND family ticket

10€

NB! Watching online screenings is possible only in the territory of Latvia!

FESTIVAL CARD A personalized ID card that allows you to attend any of the festival’s screenings.

All films are yours to watch!

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Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

150€

2) enter the title of the selected screening in the search field; 3) click on the selected screening and the ‘Rent’ button; 4) register or log in, if necessary; 5) the 9-digit code indicated on the ticket (on the top left of the i-ticket) must be entered into the promo code field.

You should be good to go! Now you either have to wait for the movie to start, or, you can immediately start watching it.

If things aren’t going right or you have any questions, please contact support@rigaiff.lv for help.

Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV

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SUPPORTERS

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NOTES

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Asnāte Vasiļjeva Editor-in-Chief and Text Author

Associates, Partners et Sons Design

Ilze Ella Negribe Editorial Assistant

Edgars Zvirgzdiņš Design Director

Dārta Ceriņa Contributing Author

Daniela Treija Art Director

Līga Māra Kriķe English Copy Editor and Translator

Dans Jirgensons Designer

Green Print Printing House

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Tickets and more: RIGAIFF.LV