What Makes a Man

A young woman in Stalin-era Riga joins a basketball team, hoping that she will be allowed to travel abroad and see her brother who's living in exile.

The love story of sixteen-year-old Arturs is interrupted by the First World War. After losing his mother and his home, he finds some consolation in joining the army, because this is the first time national battalions are allowed in the Russian Empire. But war is nothing like Arturs imagined – no glory, no fairness. It is brutal and painful. Arturs is now completely alone as war takes the lives of his father and brother. Also, no progress is made in the promised quick resolution of the war and timely return home. Within the notion that only he alone cares about returning home and that his homeland is just a playground for other nations, Arturs finds strength for the final battle and eventually returns home to start everything from scratch, just like his newly born country.

A film about events in Latvian history during the heyday of the women's basketball team TTT. Five people with different worldviews and life experiences suddenly find themselves locked in a room by artificial intelligence. Like a dispassionate moderator, it offers a harsh game: in order to return to reality, each person must prove their ability to distinguish truth from lies about Latvian history from the mid-1940s to the 1960s.

The most difficult moment in parents’ lives is when their children leave home. Valentina and her long-awaited and selflessly raised son Ruslan, live in a small Latvian town. Ruslan is now a teenager and a talented young pianist. The town they live in is too small for him to develop his talent, so he should head to Riga to continue his studies. Through this film we follow along the experience and the feelings of the mother who should let her son go - and leave her.

Documentary film the Sixth Player follows basketball fans and their emotions throughout the European Basketball Championship in Riga in 2015. Basketball is being played for the fans and can't be enjoyed without the atmosphere created by the fans. The film follows different basketball supporters simultaneously - locally well known actors in a bar, parents of the players in the arena, random people near the big screens in the main square, veteran basketball experts at their homes, injured players following the games from their rehabilitation centre and many others. EuroBasket 2015 was a unique situation for three post-soviet neighboring countries - the Baltic states, as they were drawn into the same group in the preliminary round and everyone could witness the unique unity between these friendly countries.

In the heart of Toronto’s vibrant multicultural landscape, a dedicated group of Canadian Latvian immigrants comes together to preserve the traditions of their ancestors through the art of folk dance. Known as 'Daugaviņa,' this close-knit community of dancers spans multiple generations, each member driven by a shared passion for their cultural heritage. As they prepare for the journey of a lifetime—to perform at the 150th Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Festival in Riga, Latvia—they are not just rehearsing steps, but reconnecting with the rhythms of their roots. The festival, one of the largest such events in the world, drawing almost three times more participants than the Olympic Games, represents a homecoming for many, and a chance to immerse themselves in the culture their forebears cherished.

Basketball is more than a game. Each team is made from the work of many, but its success is only measured in wins. The film follows the 54th season of the VEF basketball team’s daily life, and explores its history in order to understand what makes a good team: players, coaches, captains, or perhaps just pure luck and budget.

The musical film tells the story of the birth of a new tradition - the popular music festival and its core idea - to create real Latvian Music Festivals for the audience, which celebrate the diverse multi-generational musical values created in Latvia.

Viktors is an entrepreneur with a unique offer – he has built a bar, bakery, spa, hotel and an auto-shop in a former “sovkhoz” cafeteria in the village of Lone. Viktors understands life, and that his words carry weight – almost 500 village inhabitants are now employed. Lone is a lively place both day and night, full of youths and many other businesses. Viktors is very proud.

Two Rigans - Valentīna and Armands - make makeshift yard exhibitions by their homes out of objects they’ve found. They share the same hobby despite not knowing each other. As they’re decorating their little gardens of wonder for the upcoming Midsummer festival, it turns out that they too can find understanding and a sense of not being alone in their dreams.

A high-school folk dancing group heads to Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival, an event that takes place every five years and is part of the Latvian national identity – this is the culmination point of five years of work. Away from their homes and parents, they spend seven days and nights together. They are 18 and have just graduated, and this seems to be the last idle summer of their lives. Dreams mix with boredom, silly jokes with serious conversations. Taking care of one another creates affection and grows into a collective power. There are thousands like them at the festival. Every individual sensation turns into a common celebration that becomes more than just a tradition.