Sandijs Semjonovs

The documentary chronicles the life stories of two brothers, Kristaps and Krists. Kristaps, the elder brother, is disabled and has trouble talking, but he can rap. His younger brother Krists is one of the best freestyle BMX bikers in Latvia.

Over six episodes, the film crew will delve into the nightlife of Bangkok and other cities to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the world's sex entertainment capital, giving them a glimpse into places that are carefully guarded from the camera to hide the dark side of the industry.

Māris Strazds (also known as "Mr Black Stork") is a man who's been studying black storks and their behaviour for forty years. His love for and relationship with these beautiful birds is longer than the relationship with his wife. Having spent more than half of his life following black storks, Māris is aware that due to deforestation the number of these birds in Latvia is rapidly approaching zero.

In 2004, a successful banker known as "Mr. Dice" mysteriously disappeared off the face off the earth, along with millions of dollars from investors and friends alike. Desperate to find answers, his best friend Kaspars Roga embarks upon a journey, ultimately leading into the heart of Africa where Mr Dice has reinvented himself… this time as the owner of the diamond mine, begging the question - were they ever really friends? Or was he a pawn in Dice's greater scheme?

Everyone in Latvia knows the name Mairis Briedis – a boxer who reached incredible heights during his career and took the sport to a new level, but who suffered his most painful defeat at his own hands. In this docu-series, viewers will have the opportunity to follow how an admired athlete and champion ended up in the shadow of criticism and ridicule. The series features interviews with colleagues, competitors, and people who have been close to Mairis. It seeks answers to the question of whether the king of boxing drove himself into a dead end and knocked himself off his throne.

Brainstorm is the best-known Latvian band in Europe. They started out 25 years ago, when most of them were in the same class at school. That was the time when people in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined hands to create the Baltic Way, and the fall of the Berlin Wall became a symbol of the hunger for freedom. The young men listened to U2, the Scorpions and Roxette and dreamed of becoming famous. Now Brainstorm is famous in Russia as well. The musicians are Latvians who live in Latvia, but they reap profits in Russia. Brainstorm has experienced the most interesting and intense period of modern European history. This period has also been a dramatic time for the band itself.

Kaspars Kambala is one of the most prominent basketball players of his generation. He was a member of the Latvia's 2009 basketball team known as "Now or Never", and his harsh image and scandalous lifestyle have earned him attention in many situations. What lies behind Kaspars Kambala's scars, tattoos and this seemingly strong athlete?

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.

A film documenting contemporary Latvian reality along the banks of the river Gauja while channelling one of the first Latvian sound documentary films, Gauja (1934). “Along with producers Sandijs Semjonovs and Gundars Rēders and editor Atis Klimovičs, we witnessed incidents and events along the banks of the river some 80 years later. We captured them along with the views of folks on this river in a documentally poetic style reflecting the reality in Latvia,” explains director Mārtiņš Grauds.

Nora Bumbiere (1947-1994) was one of the popular estrada-singer in Latvia. This will be a documentary about Nora. About Nora, who has left us an unforgettable musical story. A story that it's time to tell.

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.

A story about the emotions that hockey brings, the behind-the-scenes world of Latvian hockey and its place on the world hockey map, and how young boys become hockey players. A story about Latvian hockey today and its future prospects. The filmmakers traveled to Canada, Russia, Switzerland, and Scandinavia to meet with Zemgus Girgensons, Teodors and Valentīns Bļugers, the Rēdlihs family, Elvis Merzļikins, Rodrigo Laviņš, Bob Hartley – players, coaches, and hockey families. The creative team behind Born for Hockey seeks answers to the question of what it takes to become a good player in Latvia and around the world. How do hockey players who have already earned their place remember their first years in hockey? How do their parents and coaches remember them? How does the battle for a place in the arena unfold?

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Captured by Borders is a film about travelling the world in old and transformed fire trucks. They have been in more than 100 countries, on five continents, driven for more than 100 000 kilometres. As a result, we were confident that no one could stop us. Until the fire trucks were blocked on the border between China and Vietnam. By one of the most difficult border crossings in the world. After almost eight years, a rescue expedition leaves Latvia to bring the fire trucks home. How will they fare? That’s what this adventure documentary is about.

For more than five years, the active inhabitants of Wasini island have been carrying out a unique coral reef restoration work.

Kārlis Bardelis and Gints Barkovskis (Latvia), have a plan to row from Luderitz, Namibia, to Rio das Ostras, Brazil. They have no ocean rowing experience, they've only got a second-hand rowboat and a big dream.

In 2010, authors of the documentary film “Eight Full Moons” spent 5 weeks in one of the most dangerous places on planet, Kunar province - northeastern part of Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan. The focus of film is the human side of war, soldier emotions outside the security wall of observation post. The audience of the film becomes a witness of unique shots of the first hand emotions after the soldier is wounded in the ambush and luckily escaped from death.

A film about hockey, sweat and blood, about how hockey personalities are created and hockey legends are born - Helmuts Balderis, Mihails Vasiļonoks, Juris Reps, Artūrs Irbe and others. Hockey legends Sanda Ozoliņa's last season and Arta Ābola's first season as head coach. About Riga Dinamo's most successful season in the KHL to date. We will be at the team's pre-game meeting, where filming is usually not allowed. We will meet the people who shaped Latvian and Riga Dinamo hockey - Viktors Tihonovs, Elmārs Baurs, Vladimirs Jurzinovs, Pjotrs Vorobjovs, Ēvalds Grabovskis and Jānis Kvēps. With Normunds Sējējs and Mārtiņš Grundmanis, we will visit the former sports base in Kandava. From Riga's Daugava and the second league to Riga Dinamo's silver medals. About players' superstitions and fans' passion. About emotions and beautiful goals.

The documentary depicts passionate and diverse people who decided to create a dance group during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to start learning folk dances ahead of the 2023 Latvian Song and Dance Festival. What starts as a joke in a WhatsApp group turns into a serious commitment and soon plans are being hatched and rehearsal rooms are being booked. Will the dream of the dance troupe come true? The film also highlights the problem that many amateur art collectives have experienced during the two years spent in the pandemic.

A moving biographical story about two-time Paralympic champion Rihards Snikus. The film traces his journey to the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and highlights significant turning points in the athlete's life.