Ivars Zviedris

Inta is a brusque, crusty woman who lives alone on the edge of a picturesque marsh. One day her solitude is intruded upon by the arrival of a documentary filmmaker. In his eyes Inta is an outstanding would-be film protagonist but the wild woman would rather put a curse on the importunate intruder than let herself be filmed. But the filmmaker's persistence finally succeeds in melting the ice of Inta's heart... just in order to break it soon afterwards.

They fell trees in the forest, work in brigades and live in trailers or empty apartments far from home. The work is heavy. During moments of respite, the loggers like to sit on the stumps and talk about life. And about women – those waiting at home, or those they imagine.

They're called water carriers, domestics, 'gregarios', 'Sancho Panzas' of professional cycling. Always at the back of the group, with no right for a personal victory. These wonderful losers are the true warriors of professional cycling.

Documentarian Ivars Zviedris began filming Faithful unto Death after meeting a woman who unknowingly carried a surgeon's tool in her abdomen for 27 years, following an appendectomy. This discovery led Zviedris to explore the resilience of pensioners in rural areas, who survive by forming cooperative living arrangements, sharing a single household. These arrangements, driven by financial necessity, reveal the struggles of individuals who must live together despite fractured relationships, pooling their pensions to cover basic expenses. Central to the story is Mara, a woman with a tragic history of lost husbands, who remained with her last partner, Ivars, for 24 years, bound by their mutual need to survive.

They prepare the resting place for us all. They do their work by standing by the side of people when they are in grief, and are the last hands to touch the grave towel that lowers the deceased a meter and a half below the ground. Alongside other ancient professions, gravediggers have inherited knowledge and skills through several generations - not only in digging holes, but also in Latvia's rich cemetery culture, where everything has its own order. Latvia's cemeteries are where traditions from different centuries meet, and every gravedigger needs to know them so that he or she can continue to receive the stamps for the job of digging graves. The most experienced of them have already received 5 000 such stamps, which is equivalent to the population of one town in Latvia.

During Latvia’s centennial year, 15 filmmakers created each his own film portrait of a person living in Latvia on the background of centenary events. Documentary 2018 combines these stories into a unique poetic vision based on analogy with the documentary 235 000 000, a classic of the Riga school of poetic documentary cinema. This film is an attempt to make sure whether the codes of the poetic cinema are still relevant and accessible today.

An absurd game of “finding happiness” is being played by local Latvian coyotes* and illegal immigrants on the Russian and the European Union border. It is a game with no winner – all participants are driven to play by the sense of despair. While one side leaves home and undertakes a perilous journey to the other side of the globe, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in a free country, the other side risks their freedom to earn a chance to stay right where they are, in their homeland. *coyote – someone who smuggles illegal immigrants

A young boy likes to play anywhere and anytime, with anything that is handy. A poetess plays with words, a composer with sound, and a filmmaker with images, the result of which is a cinematic poem that motivates the viewer to remember his Homo Ludens.

It’s discovered by chance that legendary Finnish film director Teuvo Tulio came from a remote village in Latvia near the Russian border. During his childhood he was known by the Russian nickname, Fedya. The local authorities immediately place a memorial stone in his honour, but the local peasants are confused and even angry about the unwanted publicity and guests. They have neither heard of Teuvo Tulio, nor seen his films...

The film begins with closing of the oldest prison in Latvia – the Brasa Prison was built in 1905 and cannot ensure normal functioning. Inmates are leaving the place that has long been their only home. Our protagonists reside in Ward 207. They have really inhabited it – there is even a fish tank in the ward! They are not from a different planet. Humanity of the inmates may contrast with their records of committed crimes. All have their small pleasures and big plans. All are longing for changes and being afraid of them. Likewise, the term of imprisonment is running out for several of our protagonists. They are getting ready for life at large. They know how to survive in extreme circumstances but are unprepared for living a normal life. One’s return to the big world is one of the most accentuated marginal situations.

The Latvian Song festival captured from an unusual angle - literally and figuratively. Faces and legs of singers, listeners and dancers, close-ups of details and moods. In the final four minutes of the film, the 294 place names - cities, parishes and villages of Latvia and the world - are called, that the participants of the XXIII Latvian Song Festival come from - "...Cīrava, Code, Chicago, Dagda... Mālpils, Malta, Mārupe, Moscow... Sēlpils, Sesava, Sydney, Sigulda... Palsmane, Pampāli, Paris, Pāvilosta..."

The documentary “Residents” probes problems in Latvia in general and Latvia’s medicine in particular with the story of two energetic young interns, Kārlis and Laura.

The film is a mirror image of the choir Kamēr... (While...), which the viewer sees through the white dresses of the girls in the choir, through the beads of sweat on the conductor's nose, through close-ups of the choir members at moments when the musical ecstasy reaches its climax.

Sigurds operates a hundred-year-old lift in a large hospital in Riga, absorbing the sounds of daily hospital life while between floors. Meanwhile, in the adjacent shaft, a new, automatic lift is being installed.

An attempt to understand the people chanting "Atlaist Saeimu!" (Sack the parliament!) year after year. Though rarely attracting a great deal of notice, there are always individuals collecting signatures for a referendum to dissolve the parliament for one reason or another, or simply standing outside the building and reciting their familiar mantra. Latvian governments change fairly often, but the parliament has been dissolved in line wth the Constitution only once, in 2010 (in 1934 it was dissolved unconstitutionally following a coup by Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis). The actual parliament building in Old Rīga was, however, attacked in January 2009 during a very rare violent protest which precipitated the fall of Ivars Godmanis' cabinet. The documentary zips back and forth in time giving portraits of various different people and political forces pushing the idea to "Atlaist Saeimu" for different reasons.

Latvians think through mud and view the world through a “muddy” filter. Where does the mud come from, and why does it invariably remain: in this country, this language, and in our souls? Mud doesn’t just appear from tears falling upon dry earth. Mud also comes from spillover, done out of joy. And the mud itself creates happiness and inspiration for new mud.

People escaping from home. Escaping to a better life. Escaping from themselves to a globalized world. Over the last years, tens of thousands of Latvians have left Latvia in search of a better life in Ireland. This film reveals the way some of them live, far abroad from home and their families: their desires, emotions, life conditions and relationships.

A dialogue between a mother and her son.

A struggling actress, a teacher, a former seaman, a policeman and a veterinarian all have a common line of work – conducting funerals. For one it’s a passion, for one a duty, but for another it’s a chance to earn a little extra...

It's Latvia on the 20th of September, 2003 - the day of the referendum about joining the European Union. On the day of the referendum, twelve Latvian film directors of different generations portray twelve different characters across the country. Their life stories and environments affect their decision of voting “for” or “against”.