This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations. It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe.
Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin:
Blue Blood
Director: Juris Kursietis
Producers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*
The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.
Sales: N/A
Soviet Milk
Director: Ināra Kolmane
Producers: Jānis Juhņēvičs, Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone...
Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin:
Blue Blood
Director: Juris Kursietis
Producers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*
The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.
Sales: N/A
Soviet Milk
Director: Ināra Kolmane
Producers: Jānis Juhņēvičs, Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone...
- 2/17/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When a young Viesturs Kairiss started to dream about becoming a filmmaker thirty-some-odd years ago, he knew his path wouldn’t be straightforward or easy. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, aspiring Latvian directors would have to travel to Moscow or St. Petersburg to enroll in venerable Soviet film schools. After independence, Kairiss was among the first class of graduates from the newly launched film studies program at the Latvian Academy of Culture, one of many ways in which the small Baltic republic attempted to assert its own identity after half a century of Soviet rule.
“We didn’t have any technique,” Kairiss admits of he and his film school peers, laughing. For his first feature film, “Leaving by the Way” (2001), he enlisted friends for below-the-line work and recruited actors from the local theater school. When the film bowed in the Crystal Globe competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival,...
“We didn’t have any technique,” Kairiss admits of he and his film school peers, laughing. For his first feature film, “Leaving by the Way” (2001), he enlisted friends for below-the-line work and recruited actors from the local theater school. When the film bowed in the Crystal Globe competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The incredible story of how the staff at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant — site of the 1986 nuclear disaster — prevented another nuclear catastrophe from occurring after it was occupied by Russian troops in early 2022 has been turned into a feature documentary being launched at the European Film Market.
Chornobyl 2022 (which uses the Ukrainian spelling of the town) comes from Ukrainian director-producer Vitalii Dokalenko and his longtime Latvian producer collaborator Andrejs Ekis of Cinevilla Studio, and is being introduced to buyers in Berlin by Canoe Film.
The project — a co-production between Cinevilla and Ukraine’s Um Group — came about last year when Ekis and Dokalenko found a newspaper article about a supervisor at the plant who had begun his 15-hour night shift Feb. 23 only to find at dawn that the Russian Army had invaded Ukraine and columns of Russian armored vehicles were now approaching the Chernobyl exclusion zone. It would be 36 days...
Chornobyl 2022 (which uses the Ukrainian spelling of the town) comes from Ukrainian director-producer Vitalii Dokalenko and his longtime Latvian producer collaborator Andrejs Ekis of Cinevilla Studio, and is being introduced to buyers in Berlin by Canoe Film.
The project — a co-production between Cinevilla and Ukraine’s Um Group — came about last year when Ekis and Dokalenko found a newspaper article about a supervisor at the plant who had begun his 15-hour night shift Feb. 23 only to find at dawn that the Russian Army had invaded Ukraine and columns of Russian armored vehicles were now approaching the Chernobyl exclusion zone. It would be 36 days...
- 2/17/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The title has sold in Benelux, France and German-speaking Europe.
The UK’s Canoe Film has secured some early AFM deals for Christopher Hatton’s supernatural thriller, Raven’s Hollow.
It’s sold to Three Lines Pictures in Benelux, Condor Films in France and Lighthouse for German-speaking Europe.
William Moseley plays writer Edgar Allen Poe, during his time as part of New York’s West Point cadets. Kate Dickie also stars.
AMC’s Shudder released the title in English language territories on September 22. Other previously announced deals are Phoenicia Pictures in the Middle East and Planeta Inform for Russia.
Raven’s Hollow...
The UK’s Canoe Film has secured some early AFM deals for Christopher Hatton’s supernatural thriller, Raven’s Hollow.
It’s sold to Three Lines Pictures in Benelux, Condor Films in France and Lighthouse for German-speaking Europe.
William Moseley plays writer Edgar Allen Poe, during his time as part of New York’s West Point cadets. Kate Dickie also stars.
AMC’s Shudder released the title in English language territories on September 22. Other previously announced deals are Phoenicia Pictures in the Middle East and Planeta Inform for Russia.
Raven’s Hollow...
- 11/3/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Last October, we shared the news that Battle of the Damned director Christopher Hatton‘s mystery horror / supernatural thriller Raven’s Hollow, which stars William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia) as Edgar Allan Poe, had landed a distribution deal with the Shudder streaming service. Shudder has now announced that they’ll be releasing Raven’s Hollow on September 22nd – and along with that announcement comes the unveiling of a trailer for the film, which you can watch in the embed above.
Inspired by Poe’s mysterious exit from the Military Academy at West Point, Raven’s Hollow is set in the fall of 1830 and has the following synopsis:
West Point military Cadet Edgar Allan Poe and four other cadets on a training exercise in upstate New York come upon a man eviscerated on a bizarre wooden rack. His dying words direct them to a forgotten community, which they believe is guarding sinister secrets.
Inspired by Poe’s mysterious exit from the Military Academy at West Point, Raven’s Hollow is set in the fall of 1830 and has the following synopsis:
West Point military Cadet Edgar Allan Poe and four other cadets on a training exercise in upstate New York come upon a man eviscerated on a bizarre wooden rack. His dying words direct them to a forgotten community, which they believe is guarding sinister secrets.
- 8/16/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Raven’s Hollow, the mystery horror directed by Christopher Hatton and starring William Moseley, has landed at Shudder.
The AMC Networks-backed streamer has picked up the feature, which is produced by Canoe Film, Cinevilla Studios and 828 Media Capital, in the U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is set to launch in 2022.
It come as principal photography has started on the pic from the Battle of the Damned director.
The film is a supernatural thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious exit from The Military Academy at West Point. Chronicles of Narnia star Moseley is joined by Melanie Zanetti (Love and Monsters), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones), David Hayman (Fisherman’s Friends), Oberon K. A. Adjepong (The Dark Tower), and Callum Woodhouse (All Creatures Great and Small).
Returning from a training exercise in upstate New York, Poe and four other West Point cadets make a gruesome discovery.
The AMC Networks-backed streamer has picked up the feature, which is produced by Canoe Film, Cinevilla Studios and 828 Media Capital, in the U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is set to launch in 2022.
It come as principal photography has started on the pic from the Battle of the Damned director.
The film is a supernatural thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious exit from The Military Academy at West Point. Chronicles of Narnia star Moseley is joined by Melanie Zanetti (Love and Monsters), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones), David Hayman (Fisherman’s Friends), Oberon K. A. Adjepong (The Dark Tower), and Callum Woodhouse (All Creatures Great and Small).
Returning from a training exercise in upstate New York, Poe and four other West Point cadets make a gruesome discovery.
- 9/30/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The film stars William Moseley as the gothic writer.
Production is underway in Latvia on Christopher Hatton’s Raven’s Hollow, a horror film about gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe that genre platform Shudder has boarded for North America, UK-Ireland and Australia-New Zealand.
Shudder is planning a release for 2022 for the film, which stars William Moseley, Melanie Zanetti, Kate Dickie, David Hayman, Oberon K. A. Adjepong and Callum Woodhouse.
Raven’s Hollow is Hatton’s fourth feature, after Sammyville, Robotropolis and Battle Of The Damned. It is produced by Caroline Stern for the UK’s Canoe Film, Andrejs Ekis for...
Production is underway in Latvia on Christopher Hatton’s Raven’s Hollow, a horror film about gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe that genre platform Shudder has boarded for North America, UK-Ireland and Australia-New Zealand.
Shudder is planning a release for 2022 for the film, which stars William Moseley, Melanie Zanetti, Kate Dickie, David Hayman, Oberon K. A. Adjepong and Callum Woodhouse.
Raven’s Hollow is Hatton’s fourth feature, after Sammyville, Robotropolis and Battle Of The Damned. It is produced by Caroline Stern for the UK’s Canoe Film, Andrejs Ekis for...
- 9/30/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The film stars William Moseley as the gothic writer.
Production is underway in Latvia on Christopher Hatton’s Raven’s Hollow, a horror film about gothic writer Edgar Allen Poe that genre platform Shudder has boarded for North America, UK-Ireland and Australia-New Zealand.
Shudder is planning a release for 2022 for the film, which stars William Moseley, Melanie Zanetti, Kate Dickie, David Hayman, Oberon K. A. Adjepong and Callum Woodhouse.
Raven’s Hollow is Hatton’s fourth feature, after Sammyville, Robotropolis and Battle of the Damned. It is produced by Caroline Stern for the UK’s Canoe Film, Andrejs Ekis for...
Production is underway in Latvia on Christopher Hatton’s Raven’s Hollow, a horror film about gothic writer Edgar Allen Poe that genre platform Shudder has boarded for North America, UK-Ireland and Australia-New Zealand.
Shudder is planning a release for 2022 for the film, which stars William Moseley, Melanie Zanetti, Kate Dickie, David Hayman, Oberon K. A. Adjepong and Callum Woodhouse.
Raven’s Hollow is Hatton’s fourth feature, after Sammyville, Robotropolis and Battle of the Damned. It is produced by Caroline Stern for the UK’s Canoe Film, Andrejs Ekis for...
- 9/30/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Latvia’s Plataforma Filma is taking its smash “Swingers” franchise across Europe, with local versions of the film planned for Poland, the Czech Republic/Slovakia, and the Netherlands, Variety has learned exclusively.
Shooting in Poland is set to begin Aug. 16, with the producers targeting a Valentine’s Day 2020 release date. Production for the Czech/Slovak version is expected to begin this fall. Negotiations for the Netherlands are at an advanced stage, with Plataforma hoping to release in November 2020.
The original Latvian romcom, directed by Andrejs Ekis, was shot on a small budget during a whirlwind 12-day shoot in 2016. That film would go on to become the second-highest-grossing Latvian film of all time, prompting Plataforma’s Kristians Alhimionoks to see the movie’s wider potential. “We understood that we have something here,” he says. “It’s very simple, and people really liked it.”
An Estonian version of the franchise was released...
Shooting in Poland is set to begin Aug. 16, with the producers targeting a Valentine’s Day 2020 release date. Production for the Czech/Slovak version is expected to begin this fall. Negotiations for the Netherlands are at an advanced stage, with Plataforma hoping to release in November 2020.
The original Latvian romcom, directed by Andrejs Ekis, was shot on a small budget during a whirlwind 12-day shoot in 2016. That film would go on to become the second-highest-grossing Latvian film of all time, prompting Plataforma’s Kristians Alhimionoks to see the movie’s wider potential. “We understood that we have something here,” he says. “It’s very simple, and people really liked it.”
An Estonian version of the franchise was released...
- 8/9/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — San Sebastian’s Focus On initiative, now in its fourth year, invites industry professionals from a country, or countries, to expand their networking contacts and participate in industry activities. This year’s featured Focus On region is the Baltics, and the event is hosting representatives from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
The Baltics boast strong comparisons to the Basque Country as marketplaces. The countries have similar populations of around two-million people, around 40-50 film and TV productions a year, and similar numbers of theaters, digital screens and domestic box office market shares.
Fifteen producers from the three countries have brought projects to San Sebastian’s shores, with the opportunity to seek out partners and talk with potential co-producers from across Europe and Latin America to fulfill a range of different needs. Some projects are at early stages of development, while others represent already-finished films looking to produce Spanish-language remakes...
The Baltics boast strong comparisons to the Basque Country as marketplaces. The countries have similar populations of around two-million people, around 40-50 film and TV productions a year, and similar numbers of theaters, digital screens and domestic box office market shares.
Fifteen producers from the three countries have brought projects to San Sebastian’s shores, with the opportunity to seek out partners and talk with potential co-producers from across Europe and Latin America to fulfill a range of different needs. Some projects are at early stages of development, while others represent already-finished films looking to produce Spanish-language remakes...
- 9/26/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The film is the highest-grossing at the Latvian box office so far in 2018.
The Pagan King, an English-language historical action film, has inked key deals for London based distribution and sales company Canoe Film, working on behalf of Latvia-based producers Platforma.
New deals have been reached for North America (Vertical Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Eagle Entertainment), and Spain (Mediaset). Earlier sales include Germany (Ascot Elite), Japan (Zazie), and Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, and Romania (Mediasquad). A UK deal is in the works.
A UK-Latvia production based on a 13th century legend, the film tells the story of a...
The Pagan King, an English-language historical action film, has inked key deals for London based distribution and sales company Canoe Film, working on behalf of Latvia-based producers Platforma.
New deals have been reached for North America (Vertical Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Eagle Entertainment), and Spain (Mediaset). Earlier sales include Germany (Ascot Elite), Japan (Zazie), and Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, and Romania (Mediasquad). A UK deal is in the works.
A UK-Latvia production based on a 13th century legend, the film tells the story of a...
- 5/8/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Founded in 1988, the European Film Academy currently unites 1,850 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting Europe’s film culture. Their annual awards will be December 8 in Copenhagen. ACE (Ateliers de Cinema Europeanne) which operates out of France and is a network of producers in the process of developing scripts, which become the films everyone loves at festivals, has 12 producers in the network who have received European Film Awards Nominations. Congratulations to ACE producers for their nominations at the 2008 European Film Awards and… good luck! WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, produced by Roman Paul (ACE producer / Razor Film Produktion): Nominated for European Film, European Director, European Screenwriter & European Composer categories. THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, produced by Carole Scotta (ACE producer / Haut & Court) & Caroline Benjo (Haut & Court): Nominated for European Film & European Director categories. LEMON TREE by Eran Riklis, produced by Bettina Brokemper (ACE producer / Heimatfilm GmbH): Nominated for European Actress & European Screenwriter categories. WOLKE 9 by Andreas Dresen, produced by Peter Rommel (ACE producer / Rommel Film e.K): Nominated for European Director & European Actress categories. MOSCOW, BELGIUM by Christophe Van Rompaey, produced by Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (ACE producer / A Private view): Nominated for European Composer category. DELTA by Kornel Mundruzco, produced by Viktoria Petranyi (ACE producer / Evolution Films): Nominated for European Film Academy Prix d’Excellence 2008
Also 10 ACE producers’ films are among the 67 vying for the 2008 nominations for 2007 Best Foreign Language Oscar. ALGERIA: MASQUERADES by Lyes Salem, produced by Isabelle Madelaine (Dharamsala, FR) BELGIUM: ELDORADO by Bouli Lanners, produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart (Versus Production, BE) and Jerôme Vidal (Noodles Production, FR) ESTONIA: I WAS HERE by René Vilbre, produced by Riina Sildos (Amrion Oü, EST) and Aleksi Bardy (Helsinki Filmi, FI) FRANCE: THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut & Court, FR) ISRAEL: WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, produced by Roman Paul (Razor Film Produktion, DE) KAZAKHSTAN: TULPAN by Sergey Dvortsevoy, co-produced by Thanassis Karathanos (Twenty Twenty Vision / Pallas Film, DE) LATVIA: DEFENDERS OF RIGA by Aigars Grauba, produced by Andrejs Ekis (Plat Forma Filma, LET) - Developed at the ACE Workshop! MACEDONIA: I’M FROM TITOV VELES by Teona Strugar Mitevska, co-produced by Diana Elbaum (Entre Chien et Loup, BE) THE NETHERLANDS: DUNYA & DESIE by Dana Nechushtan, co-produced by Joost de Vries (Lemming Film, NL) and Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (A Private View, BE) SWEDEN: EVERLASTING MOMENTS by Jan Troell, co-produced by Christer Nilson (GötaFilm, SE), Sigve Endresen, (Motlys AS, NO) and Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures, FI)
3 ACE producers’ films have been nominated for France’s prestigious Louis Delluc Award. THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, Palme d’Or 2008, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut et Court, FR), SERAPHINE by Martin Provost, produced by Milena Poylo and Gille Sacuto (TS Productions, FR) and VERSAILLES by Pierre Schoeller, produced by Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas, FR) are nominated for the 2008 Louis Delluc Prize.
And finally The Class by Laurent Cantet has hit a record 1.5+ admissions in France.
Also 10 ACE producers’ films are among the 67 vying for the 2008 nominations for 2007 Best Foreign Language Oscar. ALGERIA: MASQUERADES by Lyes Salem, produced by Isabelle Madelaine (Dharamsala, FR) BELGIUM: ELDORADO by Bouli Lanners, produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart (Versus Production, BE) and Jerôme Vidal (Noodles Production, FR) ESTONIA: I WAS HERE by René Vilbre, produced by Riina Sildos (Amrion Oü, EST) and Aleksi Bardy (Helsinki Filmi, FI) FRANCE: THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut & Court, FR) ISRAEL: WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, produced by Roman Paul (Razor Film Produktion, DE) KAZAKHSTAN: TULPAN by Sergey Dvortsevoy, co-produced by Thanassis Karathanos (Twenty Twenty Vision / Pallas Film, DE) LATVIA: DEFENDERS OF RIGA by Aigars Grauba, produced by Andrejs Ekis (Plat Forma Filma, LET) - Developed at the ACE Workshop! MACEDONIA: I’M FROM TITOV VELES by Teona Strugar Mitevska, co-produced by Diana Elbaum (Entre Chien et Loup, BE) THE NETHERLANDS: DUNYA & DESIE by Dana Nechushtan, co-produced by Joost de Vries (Lemming Film, NL) and Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (A Private View, BE) SWEDEN: EVERLASTING MOMENTS by Jan Troell, co-produced by Christer Nilson (GötaFilm, SE), Sigve Endresen, (Motlys AS, NO) and Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures, FI)
3 ACE producers’ films have been nominated for France’s prestigious Louis Delluc Award. THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, Palme d’Or 2008, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut et Court, FR), SERAPHINE by Martin Provost, produced by Milena Poylo and Gille Sacuto (TS Productions, FR) and VERSAILLES by Pierre Schoeller, produced by Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas, FR) are nominated for the 2008 Louis Delluc Prize.
And finally The Class by Laurent Cantet has hit a record 1.5+ admissions in France.
- 11/30/2008
- Sydney's Buzz
RIGA, Latvia - The producer of Latvia's most expensive ever film -- the $3.5 million The Guards of Riga set during the country's tumultuous struggle for independence following World War One -- plans to use its studio and backlot setting outside Riga as a springboard for launching the Baltic state as a co-production location. Andrejs Ekis, founder of independent television channel LNT, has tapped $270,000 of European distribution support from Media Plus funding and over $1 million in Latvian government and Riga city council support.
- 9/27/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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