ANIMATION

odis won the main prize of the Contrechamp programme at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Festival with his debut feature, the introspective, 3D computer-animated journey Away (Projām). In addition to being selected by over 90 film festivals (including in France, the UK, Japan, and South Korea), Away has screened in cinemas and been picked up by streaming services worldwide; it is currently available in the US on Amazon Prime. In 2020, Away was longlisted for the Academy Awards. As reported by various international press outlets such as Variety and The Guardian, Away is a remarkable achievement by a young director – Zilbalodis single-handedly took on every role (animator, director, writer, editor…) and even created the soundtrack.

Considering Zilbalodis’ mastery of visual storytelling and creative filmmaking, as well as his international success, his next feature film Flow (Straume) is one of the most anticipated Latvian animated films. It is expected to be released in 2024 and will be made in a graphically stylised 3D technique. While still retaining control over the film’s overall form and creative aspects, this time Zilbalodis will be collaborating with an international team. Flow is the story of a “cute, yet self-centred cat who has to learn to collaborate with other animals after a big flood destroys his home”. The film’s producer Matīss Kaža explains that “the plot has parallels with the director’s life”. Flow is a co-production between three countries and will soon enter the active phase of production: Dream Well Studio (Latvia), Zilbalodis’ own company; Sacrebleu Productions (France); Take Five (Belgium). The filmmakers ex- plain that unlike animals in mainstream cinema, for example in films by Pixar, Flow will depict animals as animals, not as anthropomorphic creatures.

Confident Signature Styles And Distinct Female Viewpoints

The animated films being made in Latvia appeal to different audiences and represent a variety of creative techniques. A myriad of auteurs and their unique styles make up the cinematic landscape and the stories they illustrate dispel the myth about animation as a genre mainly meant for children; as illustrated by among others director Vladimir Leshchiov’s work from the past ten years (his latest short film is Comeback, 2021).

Latvian animation has flourished over the past decade, which has resulted in several feature-length films, for example, independent animator Signe Baumane’s Rocks in My Pockets (Akmeņi manās kabatās, 2014). Rocks in My Pockets was made by superimposing handdrawn images over paper mâché sets and it screened at more than 250 festivals. Baumane’s latest film, My Love Affair with Marriage (Mans laulību projekts, 2022), was the first Latvian film to be nominated for the European Film Awards for Best Animated Feature Film. After many successful screenings on the international festival circuit, which started with a world premiere in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and continued at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, My Love Affair with Marriage continues its journey around the world. Baumane is currently developing an idea for a new feature film, Karmic Knot (Karmiskais mezgls), to - gether with her long-standing partners, Latvian production company Studio Locomotive. Once again drawing inspiration from the director’s life, this project is intended as the final part of a trilogy.

Among other works currently in production at Studio Locomotive is Roze Stiebra’s latest film, Rule of the Heart (Sirds likums). Stiebra is a revered Latvian animator who has been honoured for her lifetime contribution to cinema. Rule of the Heart is a feature film based on a Latvian literary classic and continues her signature tradition of collaborating with prominent Latvian painters, this time with Aleksejs Naumovs. The film is scheduled to premiere in autumn 2023.

Like Baumane’s films, Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen’s My Favorite War (Mans mīļākais karš, 2020) demonstrates that the themes and experiences depicted in films that are based on personal life stories and family histories can successfully resonate with audiences around the world. Burkovska Jacobsen’s memories of a childhood constricted by totalitarian doctrines won the main prize in the Contrechamp competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2020. My Favorite War has not only screened at nearly 50 film festivals worldwide, but has also received international distribution in French cinemas, among others.

Burkovska Jacobsen is currently developing a new film project together with production studios Ego Media (Latvia) and Bivrost Film (Norway). Roach Coach (Trakmakāns) has already received funding for development from the NFC in 2021 and is intended for children and young audiences. The film tells the story of a girl who is bullied for talking to her friend, a cockroach that only she can see. The film will use a variety of techniques combining drawing, 2D, 3D, and cut-out animation.

Family Films And Innovative Works By Auteurs

Atom Art currently has many films in production making it possibly the most prolific animation studio. Founded in 2001, the Riga-based studio creates exceptional content for children and families, including series, shorts, and feature films that have screened at festivals around the world, for example at Berlinale, Annecy, and Clermont-Ferrand. Director Edmunds Jansons’ Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs (Jēkabs, Mimmi un runājošie suņi, 2019) was the studio’s first feature film and was made in collaboration with Polish 2D-animation production company Letko. Now, the two studios are working on a new project by Jansons, the feature-length adventure story Born Happy (Laimīgie). The film is inspired by the life of Aleksandrs Laime, a Latvian explorer who ended up living in South America. The studio plans to begin the production phase of Born Happy in spring 2023, with the premiere scheduled for 2024.

Atom Art is developing a 10-episode animated miniseries for children, Hello, Oscar (Oskars un lietas), which will also be directed by Jansons. Additionally, the studio has several short films for adults in production – After All (Beigu beigas) by Linda Stūre and Kafka in Love (Iemīlējies Kafka) by Zane Oborenko (in collaboration with Czech company Maur Film). Stūre’s film is being created in 2D animation, while Oborenko is working in the complex and technically demanding technique of sand animation. Another film in development is director Lizete Upīte’s latest short film On the Road (Ceļā). Upīte, who has studied in Latvia, Estonia, and at La Poudrière in France, developed her signature style with the shorts Night Walks (Nakts pastaigas, 2018) and Riga’sLilac(Rīgasceriņi, 2019), named after an unusual, classic perfume. In her work, Upīte successfully combines a compassionate naivety with profound psychological motifs.

Together with Tritone Studio, director Raitis Ābele is currently working on the historical ethno-thriller Dog of God (Dieva suns), a feature-length film using rotoscope animation. The film is planned to be completed by the end of 2023. Also in production is animator and painter Kārlis Vītols’ first feature-length film. Made in 2D-animation, Northern Star (Ziemeļu zvaigzne) is a travel story about Nikolaus von Himsel’s journey to Italy.

Von Himsel was an 18th century Baltic-German doctor who founded the first museum in the Baltic States. The film is being produced by Kokles, a studio created by Vītols and his partner and producer Sniedze Kāle.

Continuity

The animation studio Animācijas brigāde is steadily working on new films. Founded in 1966 by the master of Latvian animation Arnolds Burovs, it is the oldest animation studio in Latvia and has produced around 150 animated short films. Many of them have been selected for programmes at Berlinale and other festivals. In 2023, the studio plans to premiere both Upside Down (Kājām gaisā), a short film by Dace Rīdūze who has had several short films screen at Berlinale, and The Bees (Bites) by Māris Brinkmanis.

The studio’s second feature film, Henry the Great (Lielais Indriķis), is a historical adventure directed by Jānis Cimermanis that is scheduled to premiere in early 2023. Cimermanis is one of the most prolific Latvian animators whose filmography includes dozens of films, among them the series Rescue Team (Avārijas brigāde) from 1991 that became a pop culture classic for the generation that grew up in the 1990s. Since 2010, the three lively protagonists’ adventures have taken them to various European countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, France, and Norway. BF

For more information on the latest and upcoming Latvian animations and their creators, visit latviananimation.com.

Questions

What are you currently working on? Your expectations for this year’s Berlinale?

Volia Chajkouskaya

PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / FESTIVAL FOUNDER ALLFILM

VOLIA FILMS / NORTHERN LIGHTS NORDIC BALTIC FILM FESTIVAL IN BELARUS

1At the moment I am currently working on several projects within Allfilm, the company I am privileged to work with since 2019. And actually, all of the projects I have to highlight quite carefully, as they all deal with some sensitive topics.

The Wife of (work in progress title) is a documentary in production that I started in 2020 during the revolution in Belarus, and tells a story of women fighting against the dictatorship in Belarus. I follow three protagonists and their fight against the regime, and attempt to release their husbands who are political prisoners. This is my feature-length directorial debut and I am also one of the producers of this project, along with an amazing team: Ivo Felt (Estonia), Christian Popp (France), and Marius Markevicius (USA). The Wife of was selected for Chicken and Egg, and I have been in New York several times developing this film. I hope it will have a big exposure, so it can help Belarusians fight for freedom.

Another project I am working on as a producer is a documentary War on Women, by a first-time female director Maris Salumets from Estonia. It’s an investigative documentary on reproductive politics and we are unable to reveal too much about the project for security reasons. The story is told through Maris as she navigates through single parenting and motherhood in general. It’s a very powerful female story. War on Women was recently pitched at Nordisk Panorama in Malmo, and at the moment we are negotiating with several potential co-production partners.

72 Hours (dir. Anna Savchenko) is a documentary on the topic of the death penalty in Belarus. The film is based on the story of a woman whose son was sentenced to death and executed without sufficient evidence of guilt. The director tells the story via a cross-media language, while observing the protagonist, and at the same time going back into the past traumatic events via a theatre re-enactment. 72 Hours was selected by the IDFA Bertha Fund and it’s a co-production of Belgium (Playtime Films) and France (Sanosi Productions).

2I am hoping for a productive and joyful Berlinale - to have productive meetings for my projects with funds, sales agents, distributors, and co-producers. I am looking for projects for a minor co-production with Estonia. I am also working with a group of active Belarusian filmmakers on creating an Independent Belarusian Film Academy, which will be actually registered in Estonia, as we are all in exile. I hope for support from the Estonian Film Institute on that too, which is such a great example for me about how a film institution can function efficiently and transparently.