Mārcis Ābele

Forgotten and, perhaps, unheard Latvian myths and ghost stories.

Ivars, although not sporty himself and often excluded at school, has created his own sports club with the aim of bringing together only beautiful, sporty, rich and famous people. However, his dream of becoming the most elite sports club in Riga is in danger of being dashed when his wife announces their divorce and the sports club goes into debt. Ivars' personal and material problems also affect all the Temple's employees.

DocuDrama about 13th century pre-Christian culture. Danish spy Lars enters the tribal lands of the Baltic peoples, where he takes part in religious rites, cruel forays, gets high during the Summer Solstice, becomes slave to the Couronians and even fights the crusaders. Who were the last pagans of Europe and how did they live? It is a unique trip into the textures of the past and into the unknown lands of the Baltic Tribes.

Self-proclaimed cryptocurrency expert Fatso is a middle-aged curmudgeon frittering away his days with video games and conspiracy theory videos. Obsessed with the concept of eternal life since childhood, Fatso experiments with various quack theories in the hopes of becoming immortal, despite his miserablism. When Egons and Carlos inexplicably appear outside of his remote woodland trailer, asking for an invitation inside, they bring glad tidings that he has recently been selected as “the chosen one.” Appealing to his nature as a “cowardly, passive, antisocial sluggard,” who has squandered his humanity so thoroughly that the transition to undead would prove practically seamless, the friendly duo make promises of a new, more fulfilling life as a vampire.

An exploration of an industry where individuals without proper education manipulate the minds of people, spreading disbelief into science and traditional medicine, all of which also happens to make these individuals rich.

In a 17th century Swedish Livonian village, constant rain and drunkenness prevail. When a stolen relic sparks witchcraft accusations, an 80-year-old self-proclaimed werewolf named the Dog of God arrives with a mysterious gift: The Devil’s Balls.

Ilze Burkovska, a little girl who is obsessed with stories of World War II and will be a filmmaker in a distant future, lives in Latvia under the totalitarian boot of the Soviets and the ominous shadow of the many menaces and horrors of the Cold War.

A girls' volleyball team and a boys' orchestra get caught out by the pandemic and are forced to self-isolate together in a country house in the middle of nowhere.

Brothers Robert and Martin are a month away from their largest art exhibition. To get creative juices flowing, Martin locks himself in a black cube. Once out, brothers fall into a wild rollercoaster of events existing on the very edge of the chaos, examining the thin line between the artist’s creativity and mental troubles.

While the whole world is overwhelmed by revolutions of different shades, the leading tandem of the Small Theater - Ivars and Armands is working on a new historical play set in 18th century France called ‘Revolution’. A week before the premiere the favorite of audiences and critics Armands receives a tempting offer to pursue his career at the Grand Theater. Betrayed by his best friend, Ivars gradually loses touch with reality. Themes of the play ‘Revolution’ starts to intertwine with Ivars personal life until he becomes unable to distinguish truth from fiction and that brings the Small Theater closer to an inevitable catastrophe - the act of terrorism at the evening of the premiere.

Ralf, 35, is saving his relationship by taking his girlfriend’s son on a boat trip with an aim to establish himself as a father figure. Not a wildlife expert himself, he also takes on board his office buddy, and it soon becomes clear that this unpredictable, flamboyant womaniser is a world away from being an example to look up to. As Ralf tries to protect the boy from his friend's unsophisticated look on gender and sexuality, soon they are confronted with the realities of the sharp winding river and the roughness of Latvian nature.

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.

“TESA MAN” is a music film – a poetic exploration of the relationship between collective creativity and the natural world. The film blurs the lines between reality and imagination, inviting viewers into an animistic experience where music performed by the band Tesa in a frozen Baltic landscape attempts to transform air, steam, ash and clay into something much more alive.

A bureaucrat who has just declared himself as a new political force has disappeared… in a canteen; police are investigating. Combining the absurd and black humour, a harsh and ironic reflection on civil servants, cops, and contemporary art.

Curonians is a historical documentary about one of the ancient Baltic tribes. The Curonians lived in the western parts of modern-day Latvia from the 5th until the 16th century. They eventually merged with other Baltic peoples to form the Latvian nation. The docu-mentary utilizes reenacted scenes, interviews with known historians and 3D animation to tell the story of this brave warrior tribe. They were feared even by their Scandinavian neighbors and remained one of the last remaining pagan tribes in Europe. Evidence of Curonian rituals can be found as late as the 19th century. The film offers a brief insight into their lives, culture, customs and beliefs. It tells about their moments of strength, victory and also their defeats.

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.

Two brothers go on a kayaking trip in a swamp and find something supernatural.

“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.

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“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?