Latvian Producers Take Their Top Projects to the European Film Market

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations.

It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe.

Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin: Blue BloodDirector: Juris KursietisProducers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.Sales: N/A Soviet Milk (pictured, top)Director: Ināra KolmaneProducers: Jānis Juhņēvičs, Marta Romanova-JēkabsoneBased on the bestselling novel by Latvian author Nora Ikstena, this multigenerational drama follows a young doctor who loses everything under the Soviet regime and, years later, must rely on the care of her daughter as she copes with depression.Sales: Eyewell AB Maria’s SilenceDirector: Davis SimanisProducers: Gints Grūbe, Inese Boka-GrūbeThe fourth historical drama from the veteran director is based on the life of Marija Leiko, a stage and silent film star who late in her career must decide if she’s willing to risk everything in the face of Stalin’s totalitarian regime.Sales: N/A Eastern FrontDirectors: Vitaly Mansky, Yevhen TitarenkoProducers: Natalia Manskaia, Nataliia KhazanPremiering in the Berlinale’s competitive Encounters strand,