On Saturday, December 8, the National Film Centre will host a “Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary” film marathon at the “Splendid Palace” cinema – 14 feature-length films. It’s a celebration thanking the filmmakers and audiences who, in partnership, have enabled and continue to enable the Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary programme – a gift to Latvia of long-term significance.
Published: 05.12.2018.
The National Film Centre programme Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary contains 16 feature-length films, the first of which premiered in 2017, and will continue into 2019. By the close of this centenary celebration year 14 of the films have premiered. You will have the chance to see all 14 again, or for the first time, on December 8 throughout the day in both Splendid Palace cinema theatres. The first screening will begin at 10:00 in the large hall, while the last screenings will be at 23:00 in the large hall and 23:15 in the small hall. The centenary film marathon screenings will be free, with registered free-ticket passes that are available from December 5 at the Splendid Palace box office and at www.bilesuserviss.lv.
One of the most important future objectives of the Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary programme’s investment is to open a path for the Centenary films to audiences abroad, and that’s why the National Film Centre has extended invitations to foreign film professionals as well as viewers of various nationalities to the Centenary marathon – all films have been translated into English. In turn, as a thank-you to the energetic participation in screening Centenary films to regional audiences, invites have also been extended to cinema and cultural organizers from various Latvian regions.
A special screening at 18:30 in the Splendid Palace large hall will honour the 16 Centenary film authors; this screening will feature Homo Novus, the most-viewed Centenary film, which recently surpassed the 77 000 mark. Statistical data shows that more than 300 000 viewers have watched Centenary films to date, and this number certainly isn’t the end result as at least seven Centenary films are still being shown in various venues and others still reappear for occasional screenings.
As already announced, the Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary programme has radically shaken national film audience statistics, and 2018 saw several solid records shattered. For example, in the first ten months of this year, the top ten most-viewed cinema films included five Latvian films (in previous years – one or two in the best case), three of which are from the Latvian Films for Latvian Centenary programme. It’s also great to see changes in the “two-decade tops” summary of Latvian audience results since the independence (from the mid-1990s) – all five of the fiction feature Centenary films released to date are now in the TOP 15 of the most-viewed films since the independence.
Two of the programme’s films will premiere next year – audiences will have the chance to see 1906, a fiction feature from Gatis Šmits, and Jacob, Mimmi and Talking Dogs, an animation from Edmunds Jansons.