A domestic marathon of films “Screen Matters” will take place in 14 cinemas throughout Latvia / Article

In order for the national film industry to continue as an integral part of our culture in the future, with the support of the National Film Center (NCC), a large-scale marathon of Latvian premieres “Screen Matters” will start this autumn. In total, 14 cinemas in Riga and eight Latvian cities – Liepaja, Ventspils, Tukums, Talsi, Smiltene, Kraslava, Madona and Rezekne – will have the opportunity to see almost 30 new Latvian films made in the last two years on the big screens during the year, and some planned already last year, NKC representatives informed.

A public survey initiated by the NCC shows that 39% of Latvians would prefer to go to a live cinema screening at least once a month. 29% would be enough once a month, but every tenth expresses a desire to visit the cinema at least once a week. At the same time, 21% of Latvians indicate that they would watch domestic films in a cinema if the screenings took place in the city where they live.

„2020. The year 2010 and the first half of 2021 were extremely severe for cinemas – due to the restrictions of the pandemic, they were closed for a long time, therefore in 2020 the number of cinemas in Latvia and also all over the world drastically decreased. Although Latvian films managed to attract viewers’ interest and maintain a significant market share – almost 20% of the total number of cinema visits, 178,963 viewers – in general, the attendance of national films decreased compared to the previous two years, when Latvian films reached record attendance records – in 2018 556,832 viewers watched Latvian films in cinemas, and in 2019 viewers also confirmed their trust in national cinema (548,938 viewers in cinemas).

These statistics mean that cinema-goers are waiting for new Latvian films, all they need is the opportunity to watch.

This autumn, cinemas have resumed operations and the repertoire also includes the latest films made in Latvia. Visiting a cinema has several functions – it is an important part of culture and also an opportunity for socialization, which we all missed significantly during the crisis. With the opening of cinemas, Latvian society can not only watch many cinematographic works created by domestic professionals in the best quality, but also with their choice to support the Latvian film industry and Latvian cinemas, ”said Dita Rietuma, the head of the National Cinema Center.

According to the NCC, from August this year, every resident of Riga and every region of Latvia has the opportunity to watch the latest domestic films, thus not only choosing the opportunity to spend their free time from the current cultural offer, but also supporting local professionals and creating future films. The choice of viewers to watch the latest films directly in cinemas plays an important role in the production of high-quality domestic cinema, and the national cinema repertoire is increasingly competing successfully with Hollywood productions, which have long dominated Latvian cinemas.

Concentrated information about the latest films and cinemas shot in Latvia, where they are shown, is available on the website Ekrānamirnozīme.lv.

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