Latvian films, talent and locations are on full display at Cannes this year. Directed by Viesturs Kairišs, the coming-of-age basketball drama Ulya is screening in Un Certain Regard, supported by the National Film Centre of Latvia (NFC) as a Latvian majority co-production led by Guntis Trekteris from Ego Media. The co-producers are Ieva Norviliene from Lithuania’s Tremora, Pille Rünk for Estonia’s All Film and Malgorzata Staron for Poland’s Staron-Film.
Set in 1960s Latvia, Ulya is based on the true story of professional basketball player Ulyana Semyonova. The $1.8m (€1.5m) project was shot in black-and-white and filmed in three parts from January 2024 to May 2025, for a total of 30 shooting days. “Ulya is unconventional in every aspect, whether in its casting, visual language or narrative structure,” says Trekteris.
Indeed, the lead female character is played by male actor Kārlis Arnolds Avots. “During production, we made bold and risky creative choices on casting, language and the shooting format,” says Trekteris. “These decisions challenged convention and required trust from the entire team as well as financiers, and proved essential in capturing the authenticity and emotional truth of Ulya’s story.”
Avots, a rising star in Latvia and internationally, is one of the originators of the film’s idea and is co-writer alongside Livia Ulman and Andris Feldmanis. Avots’ credits include Viking warrior drama Bloodaxe and revenge thriller Kill Jackie, both for Amazon MGM Studios. He is also in the 1980s-set East Berlin spy thriller Honey for the BBC and ZDF.
Trekteris secured backing for Ulya from the NFC, Estonia and Poland’s film institutes, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
“The financing took more than two years to put together,” explains Trekteris. “It was a successful co-operation, both in terms of financing and creative input from all involved.”
Dita Rietuma, director of the NFC, says Latvia’s international achievements are the result of long-term investment at a local level to build a sophisticated film infrastructure.
“Successful cash rebate programmes and services for foreign filmmakers cannot exist without strong local industry foundations,” says Rietuma. “The competitiveness of production costs, the professionalism of local film crews and the uniqueness of Latvian nature all drive Latvia’s appeal.”
Regional collaboration
Latvia offers a locations-based tax rebate of up to 30% on eligible in-country production costs that include crew, cast, locations, equipment rentals, transport, accommodation, catering and construction services.
It is administered by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) and is aimed at international feature films, documentaries and animations. The national rebate can be combined with the Riga Film Fund, which offers international productions a further cash rebate of between 40% and 45% on their Riga spend.
Two minority Latvian projects have chosen to shoot in Latvia. They are Polish filmmaker Jan Holoubek’s Second World War thriller Wild, Wild East and Estonian director Veiko Õunpuu’s historical drama Serafima, which stars Estonian actor Priit Võigemast and Georgian actress Tinatin Dalakishvili.
Serafima saw Latvia’s period architecture double for Estonia in the collaboration between Estonia’s Nafta Films with Nafta Films Latvia, Poland’s Orka Film and Estonia’s Apollo Film Productions. Backing came from national and regional agencies including the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia and Riga Film Fund.
Meanwhile, Riga-based full-service production company White Picture was the minority production partner on Wild, Wild East, a Poland-Estonia-Latvia collaboration. Most of the film’s exterior scenes were shot over 10 days in the historic town of Kuldīga, a two-hour drive from Riga.
“I combined two financing sources, the 30% national cash rebate and a 20% regional rebate from the Riga Film Fund,” explains White Picture producer Alise Gelze of Wild, Wild East. “This marked the first time the fund allowed the rebate to be split across two calendar years, which can provide greater cashflow flexibility for productions.”
Along with Kuldīga, further location gems throughout Latvia include the port city of Liepāja, various mansions including Rundāle Palace, the country’s dense forests and scenic coastlines, as well as the Art Nouveau district (Jugendstil) and the streets of Old Riga.
Filmmakers appreciate that the country is very film friendly. “The permit system in Riga is flexible,” notes experienced Latvian supervising location manager Ingrida Nagle, whose credits include The Exalted. “For shooting in public spaces, we apply to Riga City Council. It takes 10 days to secure permits from city institutions, which are supportive and open to the filming process.”
Major international filmmakers to have shot recently in Latvia include Kristen Stewart for The Chronology Of Water in 2024, Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Competition title Minotaur, Kirill Serebrennikov’s upcoming French-language Après and Albert Serra’s anticipated Out Of This World.
Contact: Dita Rietuma, National Film Centre of Latvia
