FROM LATVIA

600 StoriesThat Have to be ToldDocumentary, 52’, Betacam SP, 4:3, colour, mono, Latvia, 2007Director Dzintra Geka / Producer Dzintra Geka /Production Company SB /Contacts SB, Graudu 41 A, Rīga LV 1058 /tel.: + 371 6762 9960, dzintrag@inbox.lvwww.sibirijasberni.lvInterviews wereconducted overa seven yearperiod with 670people who weredeported to Siberiaas children in 1941. Fragments of theirmemories form a mosaic revealing theirpast experiences of losing fathers, mothers,brothers and sisters. Time heals, butnothing is forgotten and the stories must betold.Released June 2007RELEASEDThe Soviet StoryDocumentary, 52’/ 86’, DV, 4:3, colour, stereo, Latvia, 2008Created with the support of European Parliament,Riga City CouncilDirector Edvīns Šnore / Producer KristapsValdnieks / Production Company Labvakar /Contacts Labvakar, Šmerļa 3-326, Rīga LV 1006 /tel.: + 371 2919 9400, sovietstory@gmail.comThis is a story of anAllied power, whichhelped the Nazisto fight Jews andwhich slaughteredits own people onan industrial scale. Assisted by the West,this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Itscrimes were made taboo, and the completestory of Europe’s most murderous regimehas never been told. Until now…Released April 2008RELEASEDDebt to AfghanistanDocumentary, 58’, HDV, 16:9, colour, stereo, LatviaCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia /State Culture Capital Foundation / MEDIADirector Askolds Saulītis / Producer AskoldsSaulītis / Production Company Subjektiv Filma /Contacts Subjektiv Filma, Stabu 17,Rīga LV 1011 / tel.: + 371 6729 5640,subjektivfilma@inbox.lv, www.35mm.lvThe politologistAtis Lejiņš setsout on a risky tripto Afghanistanto find a formermujahideencommandant, to return his heart’s debt forsaving his life during the USSR invasionin the 80ies. At that time also young menfrom Latvia fought and died in Afghanistanwithout the right to choose. Following thetragic events of September 11, 2001, in NewYork and the fall of the Taliban regime,Latvians are back to Afghanistan – as part ofNATO missions.Released May 2008RELEASEDTO BE RELEASEDAgapitova and IgarkaDocumentary, 52’, Betacam SP, 4:3, colour, stereo, LatviaCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of LatviaDirector Dzintra Geka / Producer Dzintra Geka /Production company SB / Contacts SB,Graudu 41 A, Rīga LV 1058 /tel.: + 371 6762 9960,dzintrag@inbox.lv, www.sibirijasberni.lvIn 1941 almost4,000 childrenunder the age of16 were deportedto Siberia. Somereturned to Latvia,many perished, and many were left in exile,where they had their own children. Whatis their children’s fate? Naģežda Āriņa andAnatolijs Taurenis were born in the 1950s inpermanently frozen Igarka. Their mothershad been childhood friends in Latvia, beforethe deportation. Nadja managed to returnto Latvia and now sells souvenirs, but forTaurenis Latvia is still a dream...In the fallof 2007, Naģežda heads to Igarka to visitTaurenis.To be released November 2008HistoryRELEASEDLittle Bird’s DiaryDocumentary animation, 24’, Digital Betacam, 16:9, colour,stereo, Latvia, 2007Created with the support of the National Film Centre of Latviaand the State Culture Capital FoundationDirector Edmunds Jansons / Producer BrunoAščuks / Production Company Studija Centrums /Contacts Studija Centrums, Alberta 7-8,Rīga LV 1010 / tel.: + 371 6733 3043,bruno.ascuks@studijacentrums.lvwww.studijacentrums.lvThe first Latviandocumentaryanimation film isbased on uniquedrawings from thediary of 80 year-oldIrīna Piļke, encompassing a period from theend of WWII until the beginning of the 80s.These drawings, where the author appearsas a little bird, show everything aroundher…everything we call life. Through theeyes of the little bird, Chiz, we get a glimpseof an earlier age.Released September 2007TO BE RELEASEDControversial HistoryDocumentary, 52’, Betacam SP, 4:3, b&w, stereo, LatviaCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia /the State Culture Capital FoundationDirector Ināra Kolmane / Producer JānisJuhņēvičs / Production Company Film StudioDeviņi / Contacts Film Studio Deviņi, Šmerļa3-326, Rīga LV 1006 / tel.: + 371 6724 1688,devini@parks.lvThe whole truthabout Latviansoldiers has yet tobe unravelled. Werethey involved withthe Nazi genocideagainst Jews on the Western Front? Werethey fighting for communist ideals on theEastern Front? In a follow-up to The LatvianLegion (2000), eyewitnesses and archivematerials tell the vivid story of the destiniesof Latvian soldiers in WWII.To be released December 2008HistoryRELEASEDKLUCIS.The Deconstructionof an ArtistDocumentary, 56’/90’, Digital Betacam, 16:9, colour, stereo,Latvia/ France/ GreeceCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia,State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, MEDIABroadcasting, LTV, LRT, ETV, YLE, RAIDirector Pēteris Krilovs / Producers Uldis Cekulis,Jean-Francois Le Corre /Production Company Vides Filmu Studija (Latvia)/ Co-production with Vivement Lundi (France)and ERT (Greece) / Contacts Vides Filmu Studija,Lapu 17, Rīga LV 1002 / tel.: + 371 6750 3588,vfs@vfs.lv, www.vfs.lvLatvian artistGustavs Klucisembraced thetechnologicalrevolution of theearly 20th centuryand applied it to his art, becoming a classicof Russian constructivism. He createdphotomontage and Lenin’s public image,and became the most important artist of theSoviets. Killed by Stalin’s regime, his artisticcareer poses many unanswered questions.This documentary reveals many secretsand intimate moments of his dramaticpersonality – the unequal duel between theArtist and the Power.Released May 2008RELEASEDDebt to AfghanistanDocumentary, 58’, HDV, 16:9, colour, stereo, Latvia, 2008Created with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia, State Culture Capital Foundation, MEDIADirector Askolds Saulītis / Producer Askolds Saulītis / Production Company Subjektiv Filma /Contacts Subjektiv Filma, Stabu 17, Rīga LV 1011 / tel.: + 371 6729 5640, subjektivfilma@inbox.lv,www.35mm.lvThe politologist Atis Lejiņš sets out on a risky trip to Afghanistan tofind a former mujahideen commandant, to return his heart’s debtfor saving his life during the USSR invasion in the 80ies. At that timealso young men from Latvia fought and died in Afghanistan withoutthe right to choose. Following the tragic events of September 11,2001, in New York and the fall of the Taliban regime, Latvians areback to Afghanistan – as part of NATO missions.Released May 2008TO BE RELEASEDI Inspect Bad ShipsDocumentary, 52’, Digital Betacam, 16:9, colour, stereo, Latvia/ FranceCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia, LTV, MEDIA Development and Provence Cote d’AzurDirector Roy Lekus / Producers Uldis Cekulis, Roy Lekus / Production Company Vides Filmu Studija /Co-production with Private Joke Productions (France) / Contacts Vides Filmu Studija, Lapu 17,Rīga LV 1002 / tel.: + 371 6750 3588, vfs@vfs.lv, www.vfs.lvFocussing on the dramatic stories of two ships, Victor and Olga Jthat never made it back to their home ports in Latvia and Greece,this documentary investigates mistreatment and abuse of crewsin maritime transportation. Based on director Roy Lekus’ originalfootage, the investigation takes us to France, England, Latvia,Bulgaria and Ghana. As the stories of the Victor and the Olga Junfold, they yield a picture of cynical indifference on the part of rogue ship owners whoflout the basic human rights of crews and of legal impotence on the part of national andinternational authorities.To be released October 2009TO BE RELEASEDMay 4 RepublicDocumentary, 70’, Digital Betacam, 16:9, colour, stereo, LatviaCreated with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia, the State Culture Capital FoundationDirector Antra Cilinska / Producer Antra Cilinska / Production Company Juris Podnieks Studio /Contacts Juris Podnieks Studio, Citadeles 2, Rīga LV 1010 / tel.: + 371 6721 6967, jps@jps.lv, www.jps.lvLegal proceedings against the Banka Baltija, which went bankruptin 1995, have been going on unsuccessfully for years. The issueis why one of the first of newly-independent Latvia’s banks wasdeliberately brought down, losing the investment money of almostevery other family in Latvia. It’s one of the most glaring examples ofbrute capitalism in Latvia’s recent history, but it has been followedby others – from offshore transit-business schemes, to high-level systematic corruption instate commissions. Latvia’s entry into the EU and NATO seems to have changed the formand means of what goes on, but the story of how democracy and market economics workonly in so far as they are not replaced by ties between money, power and crime continues.This, right now, is quite possibly a breaking point or decisive moment determining what willend or go on.To be released December 2009PoliticsFN 2 | 10FN | 11 2