Janis Streics

Directing

Janis Streics

Born — Died

1936-09-26 — 2026-03-05

Place of birth

Anspoki, Republic of Latvia

Known for

Directing

Credits

47 titles

Jānis Streičs (1936-2026) was a renowned Latvian film director, writer, actor and painter. Streičs is often described as the master of understanding the mentality of Latvians and no stranger to good-hearted irony and humour. His comedy films earned him an unwavering popularity among the people, and three of his films - Theatre (1978), A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve (1981), and The Child of Man (1992) - were awarded the national cinema prize 'Lielais Kristaps' as the best film of the year.

Known for

Theatre poster
5.5

Set in early 20th-century England, a celebrated middle-aged actress, Julia Lambert, begins an affair with a young clerk named Tom Fennell. After realising he is merely a social climber using her for status, Julia tries to break free from the infatuation.

Theatre

1979

Strange Passions poster
7.0

It is the post-war era on the Latvian border, and the Lithuanian girl Maryte has located her relative, Antanas. Having been a farmhand on a rich farm as well as the lover of the owner's wife, upon his return from the war Antanas hopes to gain as much as he can from the collapse of the old world. The wife's daughter, Ausma, has since grown up and seems much more desirable to Antanas than his former lover. The historical situation makes for a tense atmosphere, because in the nighttime partisans may emerge from the forest, while during the daytime everyone must be careful to follow the new rules of life under Soviet rule.

Strange Passions

1983

The Child of Man poster
5.9

A six-year-old boy plots to stop his "sweetheart", a grown-up woman in his pre-World War II Latvian village, from marrying.

The Child of Man

1992

The Cage poster
8.0

Edmunds Berzs is an architect who has achieved a comfortable life, but this causes him unease, so he decides to go to the country house where his mother lives. There he wakes up to find himself locked in a cage in the middle of the forest. Edmunds, paradoxically, finds the tranquility he was looking for.

The Cage

1993

Carmen Horrendum poster
10.0

At the center of it is the fate of young women in the war and in the harsh post-war times, when witch-hunting of "enemies of the people" was a common occurrence. The brutal war is mutilating both the girls' bodies and their souls. Location: military hospital. It is just a backdrop to which the character rattles, the intrigue, the human relationships. The pathos of the tape conveys the idea that a woman is and remains a woman in all circumstances and situations. During the tumultuous years of war, they were also overwhelmed by true love, mutual understanding, trust and tenderness.

Carmen Horrendum

1989

To Remember or to Forget poster
9.0

Nina and Nikolai Jansoni seem to have everything: successful careers, a comfortable home and a car. When Nina gives birth despite doctors’ warnings, a tragic mix-up leads her to believe that her baby has died. Afraid to tell her husband the truth, she accepts another child as her own. When the mistake is eventually uncovered, Nina rejects her biological child, who is taken in by a nurse, Inta. Years later, her dormant maternal feelings awaken, and Nina sets out to reclaim the child she once gave up.

To Remember or to Forget

1981

Film credits

1990s · 4 titles

1970s · 4 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Strange Passions poster
7.0

It is the post-war era on the Latvian border, and the Lithuanian girl Maryte has located her relative, Antanas. Having been a farmhand on a rich farm as well as the lover of the owner's wife, upon his return from the war Antanas hopes to gain as much as he can from the collapse of the old world. The wife's daughter, Ausma, has since grown up and seems much more desirable to Antanas than his former lover. The historical situation makes for a tense atmosphere, because in the nighttime partisans may emerge from the forest, while during the daytime everyone must be careful to follow the new rules of life under Soviet rule.

Strange Passions

1983

Strange Passions poster
7.0

It is the post-war era on the Latvian border, and the Lithuanian girl Maryte has located her relative, Antanas. Having been a farmhand on a rich farm as well as the lover of the owner's wife, upon his return from the war Antanas hopes to gain as much as he can from the collapse of the old world. The wife's daughter, Ausma, has since grown up and seems much more desirable to Antanas than his former lover. The historical situation makes for a tense atmosphere, because in the nighttime partisans may emerge from the forest, while during the daytime everyone must be careful to follow the new rules of life under Soviet rule.

Strange Passions

1983

The Child of Man poster
5.9

A six-year-old boy plots to stop his "sweetheart", a grown-up woman in his pre-World War II Latvian village, from marrying.

The Child of Man

1992

The Child of Man poster
5.9

A six-year-old boy plots to stop his "sweetheart", a grown-up woman in his pre-World War II Latvian village, from marrying.

The Child of Man

1992

Carmen Horrendum poster
10.0

At the center of it is the fate of young women in the war and in the harsh post-war times, when witch-hunting of "enemies of the people" was a common occurrence. The brutal war is mutilating both the girls' bodies and their souls. Location: military hospital. It is just a backdrop to which the character rattles, the intrigue, the human relationships. The pathos of the tape conveys the idea that a woman is and remains a woman in all circumstances and situations. During the tumultuous years of war, they were also overwhelmed by true love, mutual understanding, trust and tenderness.

Carmen Horrendum

1989

To Remember or to Forget poster
9.0

Nina and Nikolai Jansoni seem to have everything: successful careers, a comfortable home and a car. When Nina gives birth despite doctors’ warnings, a tragic mix-up leads her to believe that her baby has died. Afraid to tell her husband the truth, she accepts another child as her own. When the mistake is eventually uncovered, Nina rejects her biological child, who is taken in by a nurse, Inta. Years later, her dormant maternal feelings awaken, and Nina sets out to reclaim the child she once gave up.

To Remember or to Forget

1981

Theatre poster
6.3

The great actress Julia Lambert suddenly realizes that she is, alas, getting old. What can help a woman who has absolutely everything? Only new love. And Julia falls in love with the first person she meets: an ambitious young man who has not a penny behind his soul. So begins a new life - a new romance and new tears. How else could it be?

Theatre

1978

Theatre poster
6.3

The great actress Julia Lambert suddenly realizes that she is, alas, getting old. What can help a woman who has absolutely everything? Only new love. And Julia falls in love with the first person she meets: an ambitious young man who has not a penny behind his soul. So begins a new life - a new romance and new tears. How else could it be?

Theatre

1978

A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve poster
6.7

When old auntie Mirta succeeds in a lottery and wins a car which she cannot use herself, all sorts of family members suddenly appear by her side, hoping to get the car after their auntie's death. Until then, they had never helped Mirta, it was only her neighbours who supported her in her old age. Now, her nephew Ēriks with his wife and son, and her ex-daughter-in-law Olita with her second husband and daughter, would all love to get their hands on the car that's in the colour of Midsummer's Eve.

A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve

1982

Meeting on the Milky Way poster
8.0

During the Second World War, senior lieutenant Astra Lejiņa, a member of the Soviet Army’s propaganda unit, receives permission to serve in the same military unit as her fiancé. Travelling a long distance by vehicle and on foot, she makes her way to the front, becoming an eyewitness to a series of dramatic and harrowing events that reveal the human cost of war.

Meeting on the Milky Way

1985

This Dangerous Balcony Door poster
8.0

When Rolands and his friends' amateur movie seen at his 18th birthday party unfolds as a crime testimony, fragile bond between people threatens to break completely.

This Dangerous Balcony Door

1976

It's Easy to Fall Into an Overgrown Ditch poster
1.0

Latvia, 1980s. While striving for achievements in the Soviet kolhoz competition, people have forgotten to take care of their surroundings and their loved ones. The Latvian countryside is overwhelmed by alcoholism, and the chairman of the kolhoz is keeping the newly built culture hub locked up so that public would not "spoil it". Vitolds, the new secretary of the Young Communist League is ready to combat all the negative issues. However, it's important to do everything with moderation, as otherwise one may fall from one side of a ditch to another.

It's Easy to Fall Into an Overgrown Ditch

1986

It's Easy to Fall Into an Overgrown Ditch poster
1.0

Latvia, 1980s. While striving for achievements in the Soviet kolhoz competition, people have forgotten to take care of their surroundings and their loved ones. The Latvian countryside is overwhelmed by alcoholism, and the chairman of the kolhoz is keeping the newly built culture hub locked up so that public would not "spoil it". Vitolds, the new secretary of the Young Communist League is ready to combat all the negative issues. However, it's important to do everything with moderation, as otherwise one may fall from one side of a ditch to another.

It's Easy to Fall Into an Overgrown Ditch

1986

The Mills of Fate poster
6.8

A love triangle - a terminally ill university teacher, a blind girl and a young bard. In the background of it all - the wild arrival of the capitalism, political conflicts, city life and the beautiful nature of Latvia. In the end love will conquer everything, though not everybody will live to witness that.

The Mills of Fate

1997

The Mills of Fate poster
6.8

A love triangle - a terminally ill university teacher, a blind girl and a young bard. In the background of it all - the wild arrival of the capitalism, political conflicts, city life and the beautiful nature of Latvia. In the end love will conquer everything, though not everybody will live to witness that.

The Mills of Fate

1997

No artwork available
NR

A family drama circling around a love triangle - a mother, a daughter and a son-in-law. The plot is focusing on the mother's psychological manipulation with the son to "make a man" of him.

Ipolits

2002

No artwork available
NR

A family drama circling around a love triangle - a mother, a daughter and a son-in-law. The plot is focusing on the mother's psychological manipulation with the son to "make a man" of him.

Ipolits

2002

Captain Enrico's Watch poster
5.2

A young boy finds a watch with an engraving in Spanish saying that the watch belongs to Captain Enrico, and adventures begin...

Captain Enrico's Watch

1967

Ilga-Ivolga poster
NR

The wounded Russian soldier Fyodor, risking his life, was sheltered on a Latvian farm by his grandfather and granddaughter. Ilga fell in love with him, but the war separated them. Fedor went to the partisans, and Ilga is killed by the Nazis. Only many years later Fedor came again. Here he meets a young woman very similar to Ilga.

Ilga-Ivolga

1974

Roses of Autumn poster
5.0

The film is about a middle-aged couple experiencing a midlife crisis. The husband and wife are tired of life together and start to forget the love they once shared in their youth.

Roses of Autumn

2004

Roses of Autumn poster
5.0

The film is about a middle-aged couple experiencing a midlife crisis. The husband and wife are tired of life together and start to forget the love they once shared in their youth.

Roses of Autumn

2004

My Frivolous Friend poster
5.6

Arvīds Lasmanis can't hold any job for long because he is not ready to tolerate deceit and slapdash work. He still has to feed his family, by chance he finds a well-paid job as a gravedigger. A friend helps Arvīds to find a place in a construction team, but other workers don't approve of Arvīds' high principles. His wife accuses him of not knowing how to make money, the family lives crammed in one room of a shared flat. The Soviet absurd comedy tells a story about a man who, while at odds with the system, won't lose his conscience and his true self, even if it means saying no to wealth and comfort.

My Frivolous Friend

1975

Shoot in My Place poster
NR

1917. In Petrograd, a young Latvian boy Jezups signs up to work for the revolution and is sent to central Russia to show films and campaign for joining the Red Army. Jezups is a naive idealist and would rather not touch weapons at all, but life destroys his belief that it is possible to do without violence. In the end, Jezups is forced to understand that the ideals of the revolution must be defended not only with a film projector, but also with a machine gun.

Shoot in My Place

1971

Master poster
NR

Artūrs comes back to Riga after serving in army and faces changes because of his years of absence- his girlfriend has met another man, his work in a factory in a superior position brings changes to relationships with acquaintances.

Master

1977

Master poster
NR

Artūrs comes back to Riga after serving in army and faces changes because of his years of absence- his girlfriend has met another man, his work in a factory in a superior position brings changes to relationships with acquaintances.

Master

1977

Boys from Liv Island poster
NR

A group of young Latvian boys enroll to a pioneers movement during the first years after WWII.

Boys from Liv Island

1969

Boys from Liv Island poster
NR

A group of young Latvian boys enroll to a pioneers movement during the first years after WWII.

Boys from Liv Island

1969

Faithful Friend Sancho poster
8.0

Ten year old Sancho arrives to Leningrad and starts looking for friends.

Faithful Friend Sancho

1974

No artwork available
NR

A story about the Latgale Song Festival in Daugavpils, building a bridge between Latvia's fateful days in June 1940 and the 1990 festival, which is like a prelude to the upcoming 20th Latvian Song Festival in Riga. The director, who was born in Latgale, narrates the film himself, sometimes speaking in Latgalian, sprinkling in heartfelt jokes, drawing historical parallels, and radiating emotional excitement. The film features conductors Terēze Broka and Gunārs Ordelovskis, priest Aleksandrs Madelāns, composer Raimonds Pauls, and politician Anatolijs Gorbunovs, whom Streičs calls the president of Latvia because he was the first head of the restored state. The emotional climax of the film is composer Jānis Norvilis' song Daugav's abas malas (Both Banks of the Daugava) with Rainis' words "... Latgale is ours!"

Mēs esam un būsim

1990

The Mystery of the Old Parish House poster
7.5

In this movie (based on a true story) within a movie, a director tries to film the tale of an old KGB activist living in a parish house. In the summer of 1941 the activist tortured and killed Latvians in the cellar of the house. Although the old man hires others to brick over the cellar door, the murdered people keep coming through the stones and never leave him in peace. Unbeknownst to the film makers, the "real" KGB activist, now an aged drunk, is milling about the film set. Moreover, the director and lead actor are competing for the love of the lead actress, and the film's producer wants the director to re-shoot parts of the movie.

The Mystery of the Old Parish House

2000

The Mystery of the Old Parish House poster
7.5

In this movie (based on a true story) within a movie, a director tries to film the tale of an old KGB activist living in a parish house. In the summer of 1941 the activist tortured and killed Latvians in the cellar of the house. Although the old man hires others to brick over the cellar door, the murdered people keep coming through the stones and never leave him in peace. Unbeknownst to the film makers, the "real" KGB activist, now an aged drunk, is milling about the film set. Moreover, the director and lead actor are competing for the love of the lead actress, and the film's producer wants the director to re-shoot parts of the movie.

The Mystery of the Old Parish House

2000

Rudolf's Gold poster
NR

The dawn of the XX century promised Latvians a prosperous and happy future. The nation’s self-esteem had awakened, and farmers were increasingly able to rise above even the estate stewards. Rudups, old soldier of the Kaiser and, with his wealth and pride, a thorn in the Baron’s side, becomes truly uncontrollable when he’s hit by Cupid’s arrow. The old boy is willing to do anything for simple maid Emily. But the girl loves his godson Karlis. It’s all a mix of riches, of cheating, and the Baron’s lawlessness. The fight of two relatives for Emily’s heart changes the fate of both men and the maid, so she can see sunshine through the tears.

Rudolf's Gold

2010

Rudolf's Gold poster
NR

The dawn of the XX century promised Latvians a prosperous and happy future. The nation’s self-esteem had awakened, and farmers were increasingly able to rise above even the estate stewards. Rudups, old soldier of the Kaiser and, with his wealth and pride, a thorn in the Baron’s side, becomes truly uncontrollable when he’s hit by Cupid’s arrow. The old boy is willing to do anything for simple maid Emily. But the girl loves his godson Karlis. It’s all a mix of riches, of cheating, and the Baron’s lawlessness. The fight of two relatives for Emily’s heart changes the fate of both men and the maid, so she can see sunshine through the tears.

Rudolf's Gold

2010

Night-watchman and Laundress poster
NR

A modern story of love and how dangerous it is to play with the feelings of another.

Night-watchman and Laundress

2002

Night-watchman and Laundress poster
NR

A modern story of love and how dangerous it is to play with the feelings of another.

Night-watchman and Laundress

2002