Aleksandrs Okonovs

In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.

Twelve uncomfortable, deeply personal and painful stories by women who have had an abortion are read, told and 'experienced' by six male actors. Does that make a difference? Will the society listen now?

Sunshine is a short about lunacy, love, sadness and a world created by these three emotions in the hands of a young artist Anna. It is a story about a mother who cannot leave behind any of ghosts illuminating the past. She loves, cares and never forgets, even when death is long keeping her apart from those, she keeps alive in her own, special world.

An observational reflection on the body and existing in one’s social as well as physical “skin”. “To break out of their traumas and the ingrained ideas of normality and the fictional ideal of femininity, and to make their bodies truly their own – this is the goal of two young women who use their bodies as a tool of protest and a work of art,” writes the filmmaker.

The concert film includes 12 songs from all three of the band's albums, performed by Sudden Lights at their most ambitious open-air show to date at the Mežaparks Green Theater. In parallel with the concert songs, the band members reveal themselves in very personal, documentary-style sketches, where the line between reality and fiction disappears, thus giving viewers a glimpse into the souls of the band members.

“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.

The film was made as a tribute to Latvia's centenary thanks to financial support from the Ministry of Culture. The story was created in the summer of 2017, following three young people of Latvian descent born in the US as they attempted to work and live in Latvia while participating in a summer internship program created by the American Latvian Association (ALA). The short documentary film offers a glimpse behind the scenes of a personal story - what is it like to move to Latvia when you have lived abroad until now? Imanta herself tells the story of her return to her grandparents' homeland through video and photo documentation in the short film. She has been living in Riga for seven years, where, after working as a teacher at "Iespējamā misija" (Mission Possible), she now works at a growing Latvian start-up and sings in the music group "Imanta Dimanta un draugi" (Imanta Dimanta and Friends).

Comedy Latvia roast, held in the best traditions of the US "comedy roast".

The actors of the amateur theatre troupe in the Eastern part of Latvia (Latgale) live from the heart. In their daily life they are rooted in their own land, but on stage – true to life and funny. They are so strong they enjoy laughing at themselves. In the plays of their director Danskovīte, they do not act, they live for real. Portraits of the members of the Baltinava amateur theatre troupe “Palādas”, rehearsals and behind-scenes of staging the plays. “Determined Amateurs” is the last film by director Olafs Okonovs, after his death completed by his son, director Aleksandrs Okonovs, following Olafs’ idea.

An experimental video concert using split-screen technology – a new audiovisual work by Gundega Šmite and director Aleksandr Okonov. Subtle modernism in music, Latvian folk song lyrics, the classical-ethnic music of the Arcandela ensemble, and collage-style video direction, with material filmed during the concert recording with 17 video cameras, creating the impression of a live performance.

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.

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