Ego Media

The Man Who Saved the World is a feature documentary film about Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.

When 15-year-old rebellious Stefi goes missing, her mother Helena has nothing left to lose anymore – why cling to sanity when madness offers a chance for reconciliation and love?

Through following the twists and turns of three generations of women in the Russian-speaking Latvian film director’s family, the film attempts to look at the reality of the half-million community of Russians in the Baltic countries in 2020. Through the story of a grandmother – a veteran of the Second World War who came to Latvia in 1955 in search of a better life, a mother – a lecturer in a closing down Transport and Telecommunication Institute , and an eighteen-year-old daughter – an artist, a student of the prestigious Latvian Art School. The film tries to understand whether this family managed to find its place in the new society after 30 years of Latvian Independence.

After the lives of several people are tied into a intriguing knot upon meeting police officer Krasts one hot summer day, they’re all brought together again on a full moon winter night. Intrigue develops among a couple of lovers, Gints and Elga, three adventure-race participants with one woman, Renate, on their team, three generations of a family whose father, Karlis, died in a tragic hunting accident, Karlis’s daughter Aija, his former lover Livija, and a young girl hardened by life, who lives at a Christian home for expectant mothers. A detective twist is added by a bit of poison, which one of them will get.

A Latvian tragicomedy about a young artist who bears witness to the dramatic political upheavals of the WWII era. As brutal regimes come and go, his country, his village, his people, and even his heart are swept up in the inexorable currents of history.

Ilze Burkovska, a little girl who is obsessed with stories of World War II and will be a filmmaker in a distant future, lives in Latvia under the totalitarian boot of the Soviets and the ominous shadow of the many menaces and horrors of the Cold War.

Leningrad, 1970. A group of young Jewish dissidents plot to hijack an empty plane and escape the USSR. Caught by the KGB a few steps from boarding, they were sentenced to years in the gulag and two were sentenced to death; they never got on a plane. 45 years later, filmmaker Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov reveals the compelling story of her parents, leaders of the group, "heroes" in the West but "terrorists" in Russia, even today.

Mikhail Tal. From a Far is a documentary exploring the unpredictable and tragic life of the genius world chess champion Mikhail Tal, Riga's native son. Mikhail Tal becomes the youngest world chess champion at 23. The same year, he was diagnosed with incurable kidney disease and given only one year to live. Through sheer will and reckless abandon he managed to live another 40 years, filling them with a string of remarkable chess successes, unexplainable failures, amorous conquests and a life-threatening game of cat and mouse with the KGB.

When his family moves to the city of Zlín and 16-year-old David joins a new hockey team, the Wolves, he is determined to succeed. There’s, however, the other goalie, Miky – and his position seems unshakeable. The team doesn’t welcome David with open arms either. Captain Jerry and his gang do as they please, while the team follows the ‘law of the pack’. David has been weakened by his recently discovered diabetes, and that is not tolerated here. He is still coming to terms with his body, learning to estimate the insulin doses his life depends on. On the team, David is the outsider, bracing the avalanche of bullying that gradually gains speed.

A young married housewife's dull routine is enlivened as she spies on the sexual escapades of her fencing instructor neighbour. She too is seduced by him, but the fear of losing her family results in hysteria and an unpredictable climax.

This film is a story about that time in the Baltics, Latvia, and Riga. Young rebels of 1960s – nonconformists, hippies and beatniks – have turned into a generation of well-known writers, poets, musicians, directors, as well as politicians of the new independent Latvia. The ones who were 18, 20, or 25 in 1960s are half a century older today. The protagonists of the film are united by the bohemian gathering place of their youth, a small nameless cafe in the Old Town of Riga, commonly referred to as “Kaza” (The Goat). This place is surrounded by legends, myths and humorous stories.

Lame-o’s is set just before the Millennium, in 1999, and is the story of three school friends who are among the most unpopular girls in their class. The friends are determined to radically change the situation. The three friends at the centre of the story are Sarmīte, Sveta and Katrīna, who are studying in the last class of the secondary school. The upcoming Millennium and their approaching graduation make them undertake various measures to become appreciated and liked, which eventually challenge their friendship.

Pavlensky/Pawlenski, artist and activist, is leading the way in forging social change in Russia. Through an multiple courageous performances, he acts as society's conscience in the face of an increasingly totalitarian state. From lying naked in a coil of barbed wire, to nailing his scrotum to the floor of Red Square, his acts of defiance aim to spark debate and catalyse reform. This documentary follows his mission to challenge the state.

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.

Two twenty-somethings from Latvia meet in the south of France. Leo studies restoration, Anna has lived in Marseille for some time and works as a hairdresser. Also, she looks very much like the image of a girl that Leo has uncovered restoring an altar painting.

Ieva has been an obedient granddaughter for years – choosing a safe career in a bank as her grandmother wanted. Her mother left the family years ago when she had to look for work abroad. That has made ties between Ieva and her grandmother especially tight. Dissatisfaction with the constant adaption to the material world is flickering under the surface and Ieva lives her dreamlife with her friends. She plays the keyboard in a girl band and stays out late. When Ieva decides to have a provocative tattoo on her arm made, her grandmother goes completely nuts.

The main characters of the film have made choices, which change their lives forever. A young man Yigal Amir assassinates the Prime Minister of Israel and becomes the most hated prisoner in the country. Larissa, who emigrated from Russia, mother of four divorces her first husband, marries the assassin and gives birth to his son. For many years the film authors have been trying to solve and perceive this complicated story. One of them, Hertz Frank, passes away during the shootings remaining on the threshold of the eternal mystery - life, death and love...

For the post-war generation in Latvia, the dream of the “good old days” became a significant part of the process of regaining independence. The dream of restoring the countryside to the way it was during the first independence is only now seen by most as naïve and unreal. Six episodes that reflect the historical development in the nation parallel to the fate of the director’s mother are used to explore the effects of political order on everyday lives. Though she is now leaving the countryside, the process of moving her life provides a visual stimulus for memories.

This documentary deals with faith, human aging, a struggle to fulfill your vision and above all - one particular building. In its poetical minimalism the film observes the construction of the new Latvian National Library, which has become a metaphor for a temple, a boiling-point for an entire nation.