Latvijas Televizija

This documentary explores the historical and emotional significance of the Staburags cliff, combining personal memories, archival footage, photographs, and contemporary landscapes. Through people’s testimonies and visual material, viewers are invited to reflect on whether it is possible to reclaim what time and water have washed away. Once one of Latvia’s most popular sightseeing spots, Staburags has been widely celebrated in legends, folktales, and songs. Audiences will have the opportunity to see rare footage filmed 40 meters below the surface of the Daugava River, as well as follow a modern expedition during which special equipment was used to check whether the 18–20 meter-high Staburags cliff still remains in its place.

The film captures a moment when robotics and artificial intelligence are becoming an inseparable part of everyday life in Latvia. The film follows a society that—both curious and skeptical—learns to coexist with technology as it steadily blends itself into daily routines.

Latvia is home to almost one fifth of the world’s population of the lesser spotted eagle, yet their number is endangered. Uģis Bergmanis is one of Latvia’s best-known ornithologists, and he does his best to save the eagles in Latvia. He also has another passion – he hunts wolves. He can sit for hours in freezing temperatures until meeting his prey eye to eye. There are many stories in this man. And some of them are going to be told.

“Hike '44" is a personal story by director Lauris Abele and cinematographer Marcis Abele about how to maintain humanity when the world falls apart. The protagonist of the film, Melita Abele (89), retraces her refugee path from 1944, when, at the age of 14, she had to leave her home at the beginning of winter. Asking strangers for shelter, spend nights in the woods until she found refuge and warm hearts. Through the use of animation, the viewer will be guided through Melita's memories on a journey through recent and present-day Latvia until a series of events brings Melita to what she has been trying to accomplish for 75 years.

The beloved composer Eduards Rozenštrauhs was born on August 13, 1918, and a few months later, the state of Latvia was established. How did the author of the popular song "Zilais lakatiņš" live his life until his death on March 8, 1992? Historical evidence is sought in the stories of the composer's relatives — his daughter Skārleta, granddaughter Vineta, niece Vallija — as well as the memories of his colleagues from the Puppet Theater and the stories of musicians who performed Eduards Rozenštrauhs' songs together with the composer himself during the Awakening.

“Mierjema” in Liv means “to be by the sea”. The film documents a very diverse population of Latvia that lives, works and spends time on the shores of the Baltic Sea. In the form of short, kaleidoscopic stories the film captures and reflects on people’s habits, needs and dreams. To what extent the importance of the sea is to meet our basic needs and - how important is it to our spirit?

Behind the all-seeing eyes of surveillance cameras, there is always someone watching the Latvian capital. "Full Moon Serenade" offers the viewer a unique opportunity to get to the other side of the surveillance cameras on the nights of the full moon to see Rīga's night life in all its quirky forms. The film is a tribute or a serenade to the nocturnal city, night dwellers and night watchers.

In this film a young man and his curmudgeonly grandfather are going 1,800 km to northern Russia in an old Zhiguli car, hoping to find the grave of their great-grandfather, who was deported. The grandfather Andris is sceptic over the lofty quest, initiated by his grand-son, as it’s not known what awaits them at their destination. Andris thinks they won’t find anything and will come back to Latvia without ever learning what happened to his father. However ever-optimistic Kārlis wants to use the journey not only to find answers about the past but also become closer to his grandfather who raised him. They both lost their parents as children.

Alekss arrives at the Murjāņi sports school to become a champion. He’s introduced to the ironclad daily routine, which starts at 7 AM and ends at 8 PM, with practices twice a day and the rest of the time filled with lessons, exams and homework, just like at any other school. He has to wash his own clothes, make his own bed and clean his own room. The second hero of the film, Kristaps, has been living at Murjāņi for three years now. He takes part in the European Youth Olympic Festival, where everyone is strong but only a select few make it to the winners’ podium. Luck is not on Kristaps’ side in this case, and what he gets are only harsh reprimands and tears in his eyes. This slice of life at Murjāņi shows the difficult path to victory through sweat, tears and hard work.

From birth to death, from depression to creative fervor, from desire and passion to the northern ice... Seven fateful episodes that define the life of a painter. Seven contemporary artists share their views on a classic without whom Latvian art would be unimaginable. The documentary film "Rozentāls. Seven" was made in the year of his 150th anniversary. Janis Rozentāls is a pioneer and founder of national painting, a brilliant talent who continues to influence Latvian culture through the centuries, one of the most expressive figures in the Latvian cultural canon. Behind these lofty phrases lies a living person, an artist who fought for the right to paint in the way he considered important.

A fascinating story of true friendship, creativity and the passing of childhood.

There is a Man, called Mitrais by locals, who is one of the first professional nature inspectors in Latvia. For an older generation people his name is associated with an image of a real ranger, while youngsters who know him highly respect him. Mitrais is sure that among today’s youth there are more idealists than ever before. And they are ready to do something real and tangible, and not surrender to the overwhelming virtual pseudo-reality.

The film tells the story of the Shendelev family, whose work is closely connected to the underwater world. For them, it is not just a job - it is a matter of the heart with a mission: to make the Baltic Sea, one of the most polluted environments in the world, cleaner and more alive. At the bottom of the sea lie not only sunken ships and planes, but also thousands of lost fishing nets - the so-called "ghost nets", which silently kill fish, seals, birds and other marine inhabitants. The family and their colleagues dive into the depths to find these nets and bring them to the surface. Their daughter Valentina follows in her parents' footsteps, but is still searching for her place in the world.

Project: Moving sees a young professional explore and debate the trend of young people leaving Rīga for somewhere more suitable for living, particularly the town of Cēsis in the scenic Vidzeme region. "We are simply showing that right now Cēsis has become the hipster capital, and it's not bad at all. It's like a different kind of gentrification, and it affects not just a single quarter, but the entire town."

This film looks at the Brukna commune which helps addicts recover with hard work and lots of prayer. They spend their days restoring a church and offer a look at their past lives, which they’ve escaped for a moment.

'Žagari' traces the lives of Andrejs and Juris Žagars, brothers from the city of Cēsis, who both became distinguished in the arts as actors and administrators of art institutions, while both also found success as entrepreneurs. The original plan of the filmmakers was to show two strong personalities with their characteristic relationship and rivalries. However, fate intervened during the filming process, transforming the result into a powerful and touching portrait of brotherly love and the importance of family ties.

Latvians in the USSR. In the 1920s and 1930s, while remaining in Russia, Ukraine, and elsewhere, held leading positions in the Cheka, the military, and the Communist Party, built up the Soviet economy, created a specific Latvian culture, or did very simple work. What drove them—ideals, ambition, or survival? Career aspirations? Was the tragedy that befell them during Stalin's repressions in the "Latvian operation" inevitable? The statistics are grim – more than 22,360 people were arrested. More than 16,500 were sentenced to death. The filmmakers chose to base their story on the life stories of several characters they selected themselves, as well as on a general outline of the conditions in which our compatriots who remained in the USSR lived in the 1920s and 1930s.

A story of a Latvian family making tentative plans to return to Latvia. Ģirts, a doctor working in Denmark for nine years, receives an invitation to set up a professional practice back in Latvia – a welcome opportunity, as he would like to look after his parents better. But things aren't as simple as that, and his family is divided over the issue.

A documentary about three Latvian female spies that have influenced events of international importance, – Marija Emma Šūle, Melita Norvuda, and Kristīne Čilvere.

A group of children from the capital city of Riga arrive in the small border village of Ipiķi. The townsfolk immediately know that "they aren’t locals, they’re from the capital. You can tell by the way they dress.” The differences between the city and rural children are quite evident. While the country children nimbly climb trees, play games with knives and axes, and hide in their self-made tree house, the city children buy sweets in the town store, hoping to buy the goodwill of the local children. However, gaining entry into the tree house is not so simple.