The best new films from the three Baltic States will be screened at the traditional NYBFF, which opens on 6 November and takes place both in person (November 6 - 10) and online in the US (November 9 - 17).
The NYBFF was established in 2018 as a centennial event of the three Baltic States and has since grown into the largest Baltic film festival in the United States and the only one outside Europe supported by the national film institutions of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Screenings take place at the Scandinavian House Cinema in New York, offering audiences the chance to meet the filmmakers and creative teams; each country this year is represented by three feature-length films and two shorts, which have been brought together in the Baltic Shorts Programme.
The selection of Latvian films at the festival will be kicked off with a heartfelt story A Postcard from Rome / Pastkarte no Romas by Elza Gauja (screening on November 9, online November 9 - 17), which gained great popularity in Latvia earlier this year and also received the national film award Lielais Kristaps as the best feature film of the year. On November 9, historical drama Maria’s Silence / Marijas klusums by Dāvis Sīmanis will be screened (as well available online November 10 - 17). The Baltic Short Film Programme will be screened at the Scandinavian House on November 10; from Latvia short fiction Sacrificial Lamb / Upurjērs by Uģis Olte and a short documentary Blank Page Syndrome / Baltās lapas bieds by Jānis Ābele and Toms Šķēle have been selected for the screenings.
The festival’s on-site screenings will conclude on November 10 with a feature animation Flow / Straume by Gints Zilbalodis, an exclusive screening for the festival's on-site audience only. Film also just now starts intense Oscar competition activities, which includes many live screenings for US Academy members. On November 22, Flow will be released in cinemas across the US, first in major theatres in New York and Los Angeles, and then in more than 200 theatres across all country.
NYBFF is presented and organized by Scandinavia House in collaboration with the Embassy of Estonia, Consulate General of Lithuania, and Permanent Mission of Latvia to the United Nations in New York. Financial support for the festival comes from the Estonian Film Institute, National Film Center of Latvia, and Lithuanian Film Center, with additional sponsorship by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, American Latvian Association, Edhard Corporation, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian American National Council (EKRÜ), Honorary Consulate General of Latvia in New York, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Sondra Litvatytė, Narbutas and Baltic Film, Media and Arts School at Tallinn University.
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