With the German premiere of "Flow / Straume" by Gints Zilbalodis, on November 6, an important European festival will kick off – Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, for which this year in various programs Latvian films "Maria’s Silence" and "Boom!", the series "Soviet Jeans", the animated film cycle "Magic Wardrobe" and the short film "Upside down" have also been selected; director Rūta Znotiņa has been chosen for the young talent platform "Future North" and Latvia's opinion will also influence the fate of the Baltic Film Award.
66th Nordic Film Days - the only film festival in Europe, dedicated specifically to the cinematography of Northern Europe - this year it takes place from November 6 to November 10, with 169 films at 212 public screenings scheduled, about 60% of the festival's program will be able to be watched online throughout Germany.
A special and historical moment for the Latvian film industry is the fact that the Lübeck Festival will be opened with Latvian film - Flow / Straume, feature animation by Gints Zilbalodis, which premiered in May in Cannes, and had impressive festival and successful festival life since. A total of four screenings are planned for the film in Lübeck (November 6 - 10). Four screenings (November 7 - 10) are also planned for fiction feature Maria’s Silence by Dāvis Sīmais, which had its world premiere in February at the Berlin Film Festival and also received the Ecumenical Jury Prize.
The Lübeck Film Days has also selected the most demanded recent Latvian fiction mini-series – Soviet Jeans / Padomju džinsi by directors Staņislavs Tokalovs and Juris Kursietis. Most widely Latvia will be represented in the children's and youth film section – with just recently premiered in Latvia, school comedy Boom! / BUM! by Marta Selecka and Andra Doršs; a short puppet animation Upside Down / Kājām gaisā by Dace Rīdūze; and an animated short film cycle Magic Wardrobe / Brīnumskapis by Krista Burāne, produced by VFS Films.
In parallel with the film screenings aimed at the general public, industry section Lübeck Meetings will take place, which includes a new initiative Future North - now organised for the second year and offers an opportunity for young talents from the Nordic and Baltic countries to come to the attention of the European film industry, present their new projects, accumulate experience and contacts in the industry. Among the six talents this year, the new director Rūta Znotiņa has been selected for the prgramme from Latvia with the observational documentary project Bound Together / Puika (studio Trickster Pictures with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia).
The Lübeck Festival has several juries in nine sections, which will award a total of 12 prizes (prize fund –65 000 EUR), one of them is the Baltic Film Award, the recipient of which is voted on by representatives of Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian film institutions. The voice of Latvia in this jury is Inga Blese, head of the film production department at the National Film Centre of Latvia and an expert in feature films. This year, the Honorary Award of the Lübeck Festival will be awarded to the Finnish actress Kati Outinen, also the best-known image of the films of the Finnish director Aki Kaurismeki, beloved in Latvia, but for the first time a special concert was held to mark the festival, which featured music by Pēteris Vasks and Edvards Griegs.