06-11-2015

FESTIVALS: Documentary Triumphs at Latvian National Film Festival

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    RIGA: The documentary film Ruch and Norie won four awards at the 27th edition of Latvia’s The Great Christopher/Lielais Kristaps festival of national films.

    The festival took place 15 September – 25 October in Riga. Ruch and Norie, written and directed by Ināra Kolmane and produced by Film Studio Deviņi, took home Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography awards. The Best Documentary Award was presented by Latvian Minister of Culture Dace Melbārde.

    Ruch and Norie tells the story about a friendship between a young Japanese anthropology student from Kyoto and an 81 year-old lady from an ethnographic Latvian community called Suiti. Despite their cultural and social differences they become best friends.

    The short film Pa Pa by young Latvian filmmaker Valery Olehno took home three Great Christopher statues for Best Short, Best Director and Best Actor (Andris Keišs), while the autobiographical documentary My Father the Banker/Mans tēvs baņķieris, directed by Ieva Ozoliņa, won in Best Debut and Best Editing categories. The documentary Lost in Latgale/Pazust Latgalē about extreme sports won an Audience Award.

    The Award for lifetime achievement in Latvian filmmaking was presented to the remarkable cinematographer Miks Zvirbulis. Zvirbulis has worked on nearly 40 documentaries and feature films and is best known for his work on Take a Deep Breath/Elpojiet dziļi.

    This year the festival revived a historical tradition, assigning film professionals and nominees themselves as jury members. Over the course of a month, more than 400 people visited film screenings and evaluated nominees in order to select winners.

    The list of winners follows:

    Best Animated Film
    Tower/Tornis
    Directed by Māris Putniņš
    Production: Animācijas brigade

    Best Short Film
    Pa Pa
    Directed by Valērijs Oļehno
    Producer: Katrīna Tomašicka

    Best Documentary
    Ruch and Norie
    Directed by Ināra Kolmane
    Production: Film Studio Deviņi

    Best Documentary Short
    Curonians/Kurši
    Directed by Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele
    Production: Tritone Studio

    Best TV Documentary
    Passion of Architect. Zaiga Gaile/Arhitekta kaislība. Zaiga Gaile
    Directed by Andrejs Verhoustinskis

    Best Screenplay
    Ināra Kolmane for Ruch and Norie
    Directed by Ināra Kolmane
    Production: Film Studio Deviņi

    Best Actress
    Guna Zariņa for Normal People/Normāli cilvēki
    Directed by Alise Zariņa
    Production: Cardinal productions

    Best Actor
    Andris Keišs for Pa Pa
    Directed by Valērijs Oļehno
    Producer: Katrīna Tomašicka

    Best Cinematography (Short feature)
    Valdis Celmiņš for Mirror-man/Spoguļvīrs
    Directed by Agnese Laizāne
    Production: VFS films

    Best Cinematography (Documentary)
    Andrejs Verhoustinskis for Ruch and Norie
    Directed by Ināra Kolmane
    Production: Film Studio Deviņi

    Best Director (Short Film)
    Valērijs Oļehno for Pa Pa
    Producer: Katrīna Tomašicka

    Best Director (Documentary)
    Ināra Kolmane for Ruch and Norie
    Production: Film Studio Deviņi

    Best Director (Animated Film)
    Edmunds Jansons for Isle of Seals/Roņu sala
    Production: Atom Art

    Best Animator
    Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, Valdis Brože for Time goes/Laiks iet
    Directed by Ivo Briedis
    Production: Atom Art

    Best Original Score
    Pēteris Vasks for Birds of God/Dieva putniņi
    Directed by Dzintra Geka
    Production: Fund Sibīrijas bērni

    Best Editing
    Linda Olte for My Father the Banker/Mans tēvs baņķieris
    Directed by Ieva Ozoliņa
    Production: Mistrus Media

    Best Sound Editing
    Andris Barons for Alias Loner/Segvārds Vientulis