Paradīzes šķēle

Unable to deal with a personal crisis, Gatis is struggling with depression. He feels like he is burning out. By accident he ends up in a strange cult-type therapy group that seems to trigger his self healing process, though it feels like he is losing his sanity. Is he healing or going insane?

1940. On the border between Latvia and the USSR, a woman is killed in front of her house as she tried to protect her son from the liberating attack of the Soviets. Almost 80 years later, the archive photo bearing witness to this news item and representing a collateral victim of the European Union’s founding conflict forms the starting point for a journey undertaken by Davis Sīmanis. He navigates from one side to the other of this border, which today represents another separation, one that is geographical but also cultural: between Europe and Russia.

“Under the Upturned Moon” is a documentary that tells an outstandingly gripping story of two journalists investigating the depths of Islamic community in a country as small and seemingly insignificant as Latvia.

In this film a young man and his curmudgeonly grandfather are going 1,800 km to northern Russia in an old Zhiguli car, hoping to find the grave of their great-grandfather, who was deported. The grandfather Andris is sceptic over the lofty quest, initiated by his grand-son, as it’s not known what awaits them at their destination. Andris thinks they won’t find anything and will come back to Latvia without ever learning what happened to his father. However ever-optimistic Kārlis wants to use the journey not only to find answers about the past but also become closer to his grandfather who raised him. They both lost their parents as children.

A documentary detective film about the construction of a 870 kilometres long highspeed railway line that started with a dream to connect the Baltic States to rest of the Europe when in 1991 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained their independence from Soviet Union. Filmmaker Kārlis Lesiņš becomes a ‘citizen-investigator’ and goes on the road to find out why after 30 years and with only few years before the intended launch of the Rail Baltica railway line, the construction of this EU-funded project is significantly behind the schedule, over the budget and may never be finished at all. Kārlis follows the trail of Rail Baltica project, trying to get the answers - what has happened and what is happening? Traveling through all the involved countries, he meets officials, military personnel, investigative journalists, people whose land will be expropriated, employees implementing the project and potentially benefiting entrepreneurs, who open up to him with their versions of the story.

Maija is a young and ambitious journalist who wants to do something that no other journalist has dared. In order to conduct a groundbreaking research on Daesh, she pretends to be an Islamic convert and tries to join them.

Project: Moving sees a young professional explore and debate the trend of young people leaving Rīga for somewhere more suitable for living, particularly the town of Cēsis in the scenic Vidzeme region. "We are simply showing that right now Cēsis has become the hipster capital, and it's not bad at all. It's like a different kind of gentrification, and it affects not just a single quarter, but the entire town."

The story of what we would do if we were given another chance to see our lost loved ones, even if only for a few minutes. One of the film's characters, Viktor, is given this opportunity, and he goes to see his wife. This is not a horror film or fantasy, but a drama about the human weaknesses that we all possess.

The film tells the story of the situation after World War I, when the newly established state of Latvia had to engage in a political and military struggle for its existence. The support of the Western allies (Great Britain, France, and the United States) played a significant role in Latvia's struggle for independence. Great Britain was the first to get involved in the fight for Latvian independence, with its warships reaching the Latvian coast in December 1918. The film's script is based on historical documents, including reports to the British government on the situation in Latvia by Austin Keenan, head of the British military mission, and British diplomat Herbert Grant Watson, as well as other historical evidence. The film's visual narrative consists of reenactments, photographs, and newsreels.

Andris is soon turning 85. He's been through a lot in his life, but, lately, one of the challenges has been the loss of his beloved wife and loneliness. Interrogated by his grandson, Andris reminisces about his past, including his first love who he hasn't seen for over sixty years.