Out of four series that received financial support for production from the REACT-EU financial instrument of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) attracted by the Ministry of Culture, the first two - Soviet Jeans and Pansion at the Mansion - have already achieved considerable success among the European film professionals, and in Latvian cinemas. Premiere of the third series The Mutiny is approaching at the beginning of April, the fourth series The Assistant is expected in the fall.
With the ERAF REACT-EU support, which was awarded at the NKC competition in 2022 at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, four high-quality TV series and five full-length films were made; the works supported by this program start appearing on the screens since the beginning of 2024. The first TV series film Pansion at the Mansion (studio Mistrus Media, directed by Andis Mizišs, Marta Elīna Martinsone, Dāvis Sīmanis, Gints Grūbe) premiered in January and took the leading position among all films premiered in January and February in Latvian cinemas (by March 24, it was viewed by 44.210 moviegoers), it also experienced the most brilliant result of the first weekend - 7003 viewers in three days.
In February, the TV series Soviet Jeans (studio Tasse Film, directed by Stanislavs Tokalovs and Juris Kursietis) premiere took place, and was followed by the National Film Award Lielais Kristaps and significant international success - already in February, the series was selected for participation at the Berlinale Series Market of the European Film Market in Berlin. In March it won two awards at the most important European festival for quality series - Series Mania in France - Kārlis Arnolds Avots won the Best Actor award as the best actor in the International Panorama competition and the TV series received Audience Award in the competition of all 50 series selected for the festival.
"The excellent success of the TV series Soviet Jeans is a proof of the competitiveness of Latvian cinema in a very demanding and popular format, which is the format of the so-called "quality series". We, the National Film Centre of Latvia, are extremely proud of the phenomenal success of Soviet Jeans in the international competition with series produced by huge global corporations, and we are also proud of the outstanding success of the NFC-supported series Pansion at the Mansion, that has attracted more than 44.000 viewers to cinemas in Latvia since its premiere in January. We are also looking forward to the premieres of two other high-quality series, The Mutiny and The Assistant, and it should be emphasized that they were all made in the program of the National Film Centre of Latvia with the funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This fact touches on the important aspect of TV series financing. Paradoxically, the creation of high-quality series in Latvia has started thanks to the additional funding for mitigating the consequences of the pandemic, which was attracted by the Ministry of Culture, however, at the moment, when the first works of the program already demonstrate excellent quality and the ability of the Latvian film industry to create competitive series in a short time, we are aware that the National Film Centre of Latvia has no more funds for the development of quality series. The question of how to continue the production and financing of high-quality TV series becomes extremely important," emphasizes Dita Rietuma, head of the National Film Centre of Latvia.
Since 2020, the National Film Centre of Latvia, using the additional funding raised during the Covid-19 pandemic, has supported the production of high-quality TV series films; TV series Emily. Queen of the Press (2021) and Crime Solving for Beginners (2022) both have previously received acclaim from viewers and film professionals alike. Such a strategy makes Latvia stand out among the neighboring countries, confirming targeted and well-thought-out support for the increasingly relevant TV series format.
On April 10, with a premiere in Latvian cinemas and on the streaming platform Tet TV+, the third TV series film, which was made with the support of ERDF funding, will appear - The Mutiny directed by Andrejs Ēķis (studio Cinevilla Films), and the fourth series The Assistant (studio Ego Media, directed by Liene Linde and Alise Zariņa) will reach the audience in the fall.