Sandijs Semjonovs

Astra

A film about a unique personality with an unbreakable spirit – Gunārs Astra. He can be considered as Latvian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn or Václav Havel. Twenty years he spent in Soviet prisons because of anti-government thinking. In a 1983 trial by the Latvian SSR, Astra said, “I believe this time will fade like an evil nightmare.” The fate of Gunārs Astra himself was tragic. Like Alexei Navalny in Russia, Astra was poisoned with tea on a train to Saint Petersburg. A week later, Gunārs Astra died. Astra’s death became a symbol of light on the long road to the restoration of Latvia’s independence.

Water Is Life: Saving corals

For more than five years, the active inhabitants of Wasini island have been carrying out a unique coral reef restoration work.

A Pretty Little Party

The documentary depicts passionate and diverse people who decided to create a dance group during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to start learning folk dances ahead of the 2023 Latvian Song and Dance Festival. What starts as a joke in a WhatsApp group turns into a serious commitment and soon plans are being hatched and rehearsal rooms are being booked. Will the dream of the dance troupe come true? The film also highlights the problem that many amateur art collectives have experienced during the two years spent in the pandemic.

Mr Black Stork

Māris Strazds (also known as "Mr Black Stork") is a man who's been studying black storks and their behaviour for forty years. His love for and relationship with these beautiful birds is longer than the relationship with his wife. Having spent more than half of his life following black storks, Māris is aware that due to deforestation the number of these birds in Latvia is rapidly approaching zero.

Trapped by Borders

Captured by Borders is a film about travelling the world in old and transformed fire trucks. They have been in more than 100 countries, on five continents, driven for more than 100 000 kilometres. As a result, we were confident that no one could stop us. Until the fire trucks were blocked on the border between China and Vietnam. By one of the most difficult border crossings in the world. After almost eight years, a rescue expedition leaves Latvia to bring the fire trucks home. How will they fare? That’s what this adventure documentary is about.

Looking for Mr. Dice

In 2004, a successful banker known as "Mr. Dice" mysteriously disappeared off the face off the earth, along with millions of dollars from investors and friends alike. Desperate to find answers, his best friend Kaspars Roga embarks upon a journey, ultimately leading into the heart of Africa where Mr Dice has reinvented himself… this time as the owner of the diamond mine, begging the question - were they ever really friends? Or was he a pawn in Dice's greater scheme?

David and Goliath

The documentary chronicles the life stories of two brothers, Kristaps and Krists. Kristaps, the elder brother, is disabled and has trouble talking, but he can rap. His younger brother Krists is one of the best freestyle BMX bikers in Latvia.

The Family

This film looks at the Brukna commune which helps addicts recover with hard work and lots of prayer. They spend their days restoring a church and offer a look at their past lives, which they’ve escaped for a moment.

Eagle Man

Latvia is home to almost one fifth of the world’s population of the lesser spotted eagle, yet their number is endangered. Uģis Bergmanis is one of Latvia’s best-known ornithologists, and he does his best to save the eagles in Latvia. He also has another passion – he hunts wolves. He can sit for hours in freezing temperatures until meeting his prey eye to eye. There are many stories in this man. And some of them are going to be told.

Gauja. Twice in the River

A film documenting contemporary Latvian reality along the banks of the river Gauja while channelling one of the first Latvian sound documentary films, Gauja (1934). “Along with producers Sandijs Semjonovs and Gundars Rēders and editor Atis Klimovičs, we witnessed incidents and events along the banks of the river some 80 years later. We captured them along with the views of folks on this river in a documentally poetic style reflecting the reality in Latvia,” explains director Mārtiņš Grauds.