Matīss Spaile

A documentary film revealing the incredible and unique journey of the Latvia-born adventurer and Olympic biathlete Raimonds Dombrovskis back in 1988 as he roller-skis 4,200 miles (6,759 km) from Inuvik (The Arctic, Canada) to Baja (Mexico) in 90 days. He uses his rollerski trip as a way to protest against the Soviet regime and to explain to everyone he meets that somewhere on the map there is a small nation that has its own language and craves freedom.

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.

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.

“One Of Us” follows Latvia-born athletes – wrestler Anastasija Grigorjeva, veteran gymnast Igors Vihrovs, and up-and-coming figure skater Deniss Vasiļjevs. Being of non-Latvian ethnicity, they are sometimes treated as ‘others’ by native Latvians, who welcome them into their ranks only when they’ve shown astonishing results.

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 story about recklessness and risk. About dreams and people who change their destinies by following their passions. In this documentary, we follow Mārtiņš Sesks and Raimonds Strokšs – two reckless Latvians who believe that right here in Latvia we can reach the highest peaks in one of the most difficult sports in the world – motor racing.

Tired of not seeing her sport represented at adventure film festivals, Katie Tannenbaum decided to make her own film. In it, she leaves the busy ski slopes behind to cross the Swiss Alps on her sled… headfirst.