Alvis Lapins

The story of Cīrulīši - a tight-knit family down on their luck, and their trials and tribulations during the Christmas season.

Young Emil lives with his parents and younger sister on a small farm. Emil's kindness and energy make him interfere with everything around him, but the results are usually not what he intended.

Latvia in the late 19th century. Edgars, the coachman of Alaine manor, loves Kristine, the washerwoman's daughter, although he is too hot-headed for Kristine's mother to consider him a good suitor for his daughter. Servant Viskrelis and stable boy Sutka try to tempt Edgars to a life of drinking and a relationship with the barmaid Matilde. Meanwhile, Kristine is courted by a rich landowner, Akmentins.

The epic film is based on the motifs of Vilis Lācis' novel "The Zītari Family". The tragedy of the Zītari family is a model of Latvian national history. With the beginning of World War I, the patriarchal way of life of Captain Andrejs and his wife Alvīne, their children Kārlis, Ings, Ernests, Elza and Janka changes, with years spent at work and in rare, modest celebrations. Kārlis voluntarily goes to the front, Ingus disappears without a trace on long sea voyages. Not wanting to live in the territory occupied by the German army, the Zītari evacuate to the distant Altai region. The unusually difficult living conditions and the drastically changing political situation of the post-revolutionary period also affect each member of the Zītari family. When the opportunity arises to return to Latvia, Andrejs and Alvīne are no longer among the living. The old sailor's nest has collapsed and the young Zītari are no longer able to preserve their father's house - all the property is stolen.

Young Juris is being raised by his mother alone in a rural village. She is in love with Jānis, a collective farm driver, and the two plan to get married. As the wedding approaches, Juris prepares a special secret gift for them—a “sun candle” plant he is growing in a forest clearing.

Three friends dream of purchasing St. Bernard puppies. But obstacles arise along their path, which require resourcefulness and ingenuity to overcome...

In the center of a small town there is a liquor store, every day a long line of people rubs impatiently by it. Thirteen-year-old Zigis sees his father here more and more often. The faces of many alcoholics have already been stamped by degradation, there is indifference in their eyes, they have lost interest in life. The boy realizes that such a terrible future also awaits the person closest to him. Not expecting to get help from anyone, Zigis decides on an unusual step: he goes to Marta, a popular healer, to save his father. On the way, the boy meets different people and experiences different attitudes towards himself, gets to know the contradictions of life.