Alise Ģelze

Laine is a college girl from a bland middle-class suburb in Latvia. As Laine’s father distances himself from his crumbling marriage and his family, Laine is unable to cope with the separation and discovers the edgy Riga party scene, where she falls in love with seasoned raver Gunda. Going from rave to rave, the girls journey into a drug-fuelled underworld of anarchy, freedom and exploration.

Oleg, a young Latvian butcher, arrives in Brussels in the hope of getting a better salary in a meat factory. His experience turns short after being betrayed by a colleague. Alone in a country where he doesn’t belong, he quickly falls under the yoke of Andrzej, a Polish criminal.

In a dystopian world, a limousine driver named Arthur transports various passengers around the centre of Riga. His every move is monitored by the limousine's artificial intelligence, MO. Arthur and MO's relationship is seemingly friendly and playful, but there is a feeling in the air that Arthur is careful not to provoke MO. The evening is tense and Arthur has several confrontations with MO. Arthur decides to distract the limousine's AI MO by telling jokes to avoid triggering the emotion control device.

Albert is an old man who lives in a house surrounded by the forest. Since the death of his wife, he spends his days in solitude. Driven by loneliness, despair and a longing for his deceased wife, Albert agrees to participate in a spiritual séance, just to be with her one last time. The séance fails; however, it triggers a chain of surreal events that give him hope of regaining that which seemed lost forever. Unfortunately, these events happen only in Albert’s unconscious mind.

Renowned German organist Anna discovers her Latvian husband's involvement in a corruption scandal, shaking the foundation of their life together. Can she come to terms with this new reality about her husband?

A coming of age story about a group of millennials who start to face their self-destructive tendencies as they each head straight into their crisis of thirtysomethings.

The closed microcosm of garage co-ops, where the socio-economic environment has blended with personal space, provides a step back in time. Men are still boys, but their tinkering is both the trade and hobby of individual entrepreneurs, since self-exploitation as leisure time activity is a time capsule where neoliberalism has enclosed the postindustrial proletariat. Inventors, geniuses, crazy scientists, and men with golden hands - you will find them in garages.

The old gardener works all day in harmony with nature’s rhythms and the wisdom of the ancient Latvians. His happiness and fulfillment is a garden that no longer belongs to him, but he feels like it does due to his large contribution to it. He speaks to the garden, and it responds, giving him shelter and a rich harvest. Autumn arrives and there is much work, more than the gardener can handle. The young homeowners, desiring to make the gardener’s life easier, hire a new gardener. The old gardener’s love of the garden and his unwillingness to share it with anyone else leads him to make an inevitable decision to stay in the garden of his family forever. This is a poetically symbolic story about disappearing time, the land and modern reality.

Faced with obstacles to the further education of his daughter Tabita, who has Down's syndrome, Andris is forced to accept the new reality of life. Between conventional norms and unconventional solutions, Andris is faced with a difficult choice - to save his marriage or to ensure a fulfilling future for Tabita.

21 years young Ksenia will soon need to present herself to the courts, only she doesn't know when and for how long. How is it to live life in limbo,when you don't know when, or how heavily you'll need to pay for what you've done.

After recovering from an overseas mission, Krists Lapins moves into a quiet neighbourhood in Riga. His hopes for a new, peaceful life are disrupted when an unexpected visitor arrives one night. Krists soon finds himself in a swirl of events involving a mysterious blonde, a wannabe private detective, a bankrupt millionaire, and a rigorous cop. In this witty portrayal of modern Latvian society the absurd meets the comic and nothing is what it seems.

Latvian artist Ulla's grant in Rostock leads to a solo show in her sister Darta's city. Amid rising family tensions and an unreachable mother, Ulla and pregnant Darta embark on a transformative journey home, facing unresolved emotions and fractured relationships.

Siblings Roby and Raya after the death of their father and being abandoned by their mother, are forced to live with their dominating grandmother in a small country house owned by their family. Things change after the sudden death of their grandmother. The teenagers have to face a tough choice: either to report the accident and submit themselves to a life in an orphanage or hide the dead body and live as if nothing has happened.

Four directors capture simple, yet quintessential experiences of a single individual in different periods of his life - childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age.

Two young men come to visit their friend, who, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, spends his daily life in a remote country house. Spending a seemingly peaceful day together, the two young friends leave their friend with the hope that he will recover soon.

After losing his leg, ex-cop Didzis focuses on training his three beloved police dogs. His estranged wife Jana, a doctor at the local sports school, seeks romantic fulfilment with Roberts, a 17-year-old student and a promising swimmer. After a secret randez-vous, Jana hits a rabid wild boar with her car and eventually spreads the virus to Didzis’ dogs. The accident ignites dark suspicion and jealousy in Didzis. Busy with finding and punishing Jana’s secret lover, Didzis overlooks the ever-growing strangeness and aggression in his now infected dogs. Just as the love triangle becomes toxic, the dogs escape and threaten the local town. Facing both personal and professional fiasco, Didzis decides to take matter in his own hands.

12-year-old Raimonds tries to cover up a bad note at school and starts a spiral of lies, which spins out of control. He has to venture into Riga’s thrilling night-life to save his saxophone, his friendship and his face in front of his mother.

Feith and Dallas, a married couple, are struck with news on their son’s sudden death. They are going to the morgue to recognise his remains. Meanwhile on the same road 17 years ago they find out that they might become parents. In a lonely gas tank they stop to meet themselves from 17 years ago and have no choice, they must confront their past and future.

Summer, 1989. City girls, Paula and Laura, spend their summer holidays in a small town with their cousins, Maija and Linda. Four girls, left unattended, enjoy freedom, imitate the life of adults, plunge into reckless adventures and get into trouble. Based on true events, nine-year-old Paula’s story of growing up is set against the background of time when Latvia made her first steps towards independence.