Ivars Seleckis

Through six very different families, documentary “The Land” shows the variety of the countryside in the 21st century, the contradictions of countryside living as well as illusions about farmer’s life. There are various reasons why our protagonists chose to live in the homesteads, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Some were done with spending too much time in an office, traffic and living a virtual life, they wanted real, tangible things. Some have moved to countryside by their own choice, but some by predisposition of their families. But what unites them all - they aspire for the stability provided by their own land and house. Together with our protagonists, we will spend one year’s cycle of farmer’s life, that will start with the spring sowing and finish with the autumn harvest and land preparation for the next year.

The To Be Continued documentary follows lives of five children throughout their first school year. Kārlis's family is firmly rooted in the Latvian countryside. Gleb's grandparents came to Latvia only in the Soviet period. Zane's family are first-generation urban-dwellers. Anastasija's family moved from the city to the countryside. Anete's mum lives and works in England. The film explores how these choices made by adults are reflected in a child's thinking.

8/10

Kristīne Briede and Audrius Stonys’s meditative documentary essay portrays the less-remembered generation of cinema poets of the Baltic New Wave. With finesse, they push beyond the barriers of the common historiographic investigation in order to achieve a consummate poetic treatment of the ontology of documentary creation.

6.9/10

Seven versions of Riga, the city on the Baltic Sea, and its features as seen by outstanding European film directors: Sergei Loznitsa (The Old Jewish Cemetery), Ivars Seleckis (On Ķīpsala), Audrius Stonys (Riga Boats), Jaak Kilmi (Littering Prohibited!), Jon Bang Karlsen (Cats in Riga), Rainer Komers (Daugava Delta), and Bettina Henkel (Theatre Street 6).

This is the 3rd film in almost 30 years about the daily lives of the people living in this small street of Pārdaugava. We first met them in the late 1980s when the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse. We visited them again in the wild 1990s. And now we meet them in 2013, again in a whole different world.

6.8/10

The story of rural people in 2004 - at the time when Latvia joined the European Union. In the film we see a German farmer who bought property in Latvia; the head of a large parish; a family of young former citizens; eco lifestyle supporters - soybean growers, including an organic farm and its owner who takes a loan from a bank for the first time.

8.8/10

Uldis Brauns' conversation with Ivars Seleckis about films and time.

Ten years have passed since we made the film “Crossroad Street”, about a small street in the suburbs of the city of Riga. Now we’ve come back. Perhaps it was a sense of duty, perhaps nostalgia that brought us back – who knows? Perhaps it was both. Daiga, Aldis, Osis – they’re all our people. The first film had an impact on both the filmmakers and the residents of Crossroad Street. We found friends whom we want to meet again and again. Society has become more prosperous, several value systems coexist side-by-side. People often live in these systems as though they were in different worlds that never meet. We felt that the world inhabited by our people is sinking into oblivion, and so we wanted to show that it still has its own turbulence, that Crossroad Street resembles Latvia’s palm – the place where a fortune teller can see the lines of its destiny.

7.7/10

A documentary about farmers in the Latvian countryside.

Zolitude is inhabited mainly by immigrants. An extremely denational environment, a disorderly everyday life, depressing standard type architecture - these are the problems faced by the film's characters.

A street in Soviet Latvia is occupied by colorful residents. Some earning millions in newly created businesses, others barely able to make living.

8.3/10

Joyful, humorous and slightly ironic look on the daily life in Soviet Latvia in 1987.

The composer Raimonds Pauls, the artist of the USSR People's Stage, shares his thoughts on life and work. The authors focus on the difficult daily work of a talented artist.

A sequel-of-sorts to "Sieviete, kuru gaida?", where the authors focussed on the role of a woman in society. Now their turning their focus on men.

A film about a woman's role in the society.

An accidental meeting helps to learn a lot of new in surrounding world and his soul, to realize that youth is one of the most important stages of human life.

6.8/10

A documentary about farmers in the Latvian countryside.

First Latvian documentary about small city Kuldiga.

The degradation of a human under the influence of alcohol.