For the seventh time, at the end of August and on the dates of the legendary Baltic Way, the Baltic Film Days will take place across the three Baltic republics. On 23 and 24 August, free cinema screenings will be offered to the audiences of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, who will be able to enjoy the latest films from their neighbouring countries.

In Riga, the Baltic Film Days will be held at the K Suns cinema, and the programme will include two Lithuanian films and two Estonian ones. The Baltic Film Days are an initiative established by the three countries’ national film institutions – the National Film Centre of Latvia, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Estonian Film Institute.

In all three countries, Baltic Film Days will take place at the same time, with each nation showing two films from its neighbours. Estonian and Lithuanian audiences will both enjoy Viesturs Kairišs’s award-winning coming-of-age drama January [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], which will be screened alongside Signe Baumane’s animated flick My Love Affair With Marriage [+lee también:
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entrevista: Signe Baumane
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In Latvia, the Baltic Film Days kick off on Wednesday 23 August, with screenings of two Lithuanian features. The 6 pm opening will host the comedy Parade [+lee también:
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entrevista: Titas Laucius
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On the same day, during the 8 pm screening, The Poet [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giedrius Tamoševičius
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On Thursday, two Estonian movies will be screened. The 6 pm session will host “an animated film for the whole family” based on the motifs of the works of Andrus Kivirähk (an Estonian writer also popular in Latvia), titled Poop, Spring and the Others. The picture includes five different stories using different animation techniques, told from the point of view of different directors, but they are united by the writer’s own presence and warm humour. The film is dubbed in Latvian.

Next, the 8 pm screening will host Ove Musting’s debut feature, Kalev [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]. It tells a story about basketball, freedom and victory set in 1991, when the history of Estonia and Latvia went hand in hand, both in sports and in the Singing Revolution. The film was partly shot in Latvia, and Latvian actors such as Jēkabs Reinis, Artūrs Putniņš and Andris Keišs also star.

Speaking about the importance of this initiative, National Film Centre of Latvia head Dita Rietuma told Cineuropa: “The Baltic Film Days are already a successful tradition, established through cooperation among the three Baltic film centres. Film professionals from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania cooperate a great deal, and many films from our region are co-productions with neighbouring countries. However, the general audience quite often lacks the information about the recent films made by our closest neighbours. In recent years, the situation has improved, with more and more films from Lithuania and Estonia being screened in Latvian cinemas, or made available on TV and on VoD platforms, but stronger efforts are needed to promote our own cinematic cultures and co-productions across the Baltic states. The Baltic Film Days are just one step in this process, but surely an important one.”

The Baltic Film Days in Latvia are being organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia, and are supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Estonian Film Institute. Admission to all screenings is free, and no prior registration is required.