After the nomination of the animated feature film My Marriage Project by a Latvian director residing in New York for the European Film Academy Award, the news of the success of works by three other Latvian film professionals has arrived. Viestura Kairis’ feature film January was awarded as the best work in competition this year at the Rome Film Fest, the international film festival in Rome.
“It is a personal story of growth against the backdrop of a turbulent era. The interpretations of the actors are excellent, the fragility of the characters they played, despite the brutality of the situation, moved us all. The film is a beautiful tribute to cinema and freedom. Unfortunately, the story is still relevant, because right now we see similar events in the world, “the jury described. It is the story of young filmmakers involved in the political events of January 1991 in Riga.
In total, this work won three awards at the Rome Film Festival: for best film, best direction and best acting. The Vittorio Gasman award was received by the actor Kārlis Arnolds Avots, leading actor. At the end of this week, Viesturs Kairišs won another accolade – the Warsaw International Film Festival’s award for best director.
Representatives of this work point out that the national premiere of the film Janvāris is scheduled for November 11, when it will be shown on cinemas across Latvia. On 18 November this work will be screened at the Black Nights film festival in Tallinn and on 19 November at the Lithuanian film festival Scanorama, as well as at the Baltic Film Days in Oslo, the Ankara Film Festival and the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck.
In the 1-2 Competition of the Warsaw International Film Festival, which evaluates the first and second films of the directors, instead, the family social drama Sisters by Linda Olte, about the sisters Anastasija and Diana who grew up in an orphanage and have the opportunity to be adopted into an American family, was named the best. It also received the FIPRESCI award from the International Film Critics Association as the best first film in Eastern Europe.
“I believe that the international success at the Warsaw Film Festival will open even more doors to my work and wherever the nuns go, the film will shed light on the very important theme of” children of the system “, comments the director. Both his work and My Marriage Project by Signe Baumane, can currently be seen in Latvian cinemas.
Kristīne Matīsa, National Cinema Center’s film industry information expert, reveals that the third work that has garnered recognition in Europe this weekend is the Latvian-Polish co-produced short Coincidences (directed by Marta Magnuška), which has been recognized as the best short film animated film at the DOK Leipzig festival. You can read more about awards and films at www.nkc.gov.lv.
