After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, during which the Latvian film marathon moved online – on the portal of the National Film Center filmas.lv – this year the marathon returns to the cinema “Splendid Palace”, with free live screenings in both cinemas without restrictions. Invitations to cinema screenings will be available from April 27 at the box office of the Splendid Palace cinema or can be registered electronically on the cinema’s website; Details about impressions and login will follow.
The program of the Latvian film marathon will start in the cinema this year with the honor of the director Rolands Kalniņš (1922) – the Latvian cinema classic turns 100 in May, and the old master promises to come to the screening of one “golden classic” film and several surprises – both musically and cinematically . The big hall of the cinema will also celebrate the premiere of two feature films on this day. For the first time in Latvia, Laila Pakalniņa’s documentary “Home” will be shown, which has been screened at several important European festivals since last autumn, while director Ivars Zviedris has just completed the documentary “Bach vs. Covid”, which began filming two years ago in the first days of the pandemic. At the beginning of the day, the traditional Latvian animation film screening for children is also planned in the Great Hall.
Movie “Mariupole” (2016)
Photo: Publicity image
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In the Small Hall of the Cinema this year, the program is somehow connected with Ukraine and the ongoing war in this country – the documentary film “Mariupole” (2016), directed by Lithuanian Mantas Kvedaravičus (1976-2022), fell in the city in early April, but at the end – Ukrainian feature film “White Raven” (2022), an emotional heroic drama about the events of 2014 at the very beginning of the war in the Donetsk region. The Small Hall of the Cinema will also screen the documentary “Valiant! – Journey to Free Latvia” (2021) – an inspiring story about the resistance of Latvians in exile in the 1980s, tirelessly reminding the governments of the world that Latvia is occupied.
At the end of the evening, with the onset of darkness, a screening is planned at the open-air cinema “Splendid Garden” – the centennial animated film “Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs” (2019) with subtitles in Ukrainian.
On May 4, the National Cinema Center will also offer films for screenings in the vicinity of Riga – Mežaparks Grand Stage, Ilguciems and Imanta – but on the portal filmas.lv the festival program will be available worldwide according to the local time of each country. Detailed information about the May 4 Latvian film marathon program will follow next week. The film marathon is organized by the National Film Center, supported by the Riga City Council and Latvian film studios.
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