Ieva Florence-Vīksne

A love circle between a dishonest government employee, a freelance actress, a passionate dancer, and godmother of a local mafia cartel. It could be serious if it wouldn’t be so funny.

The love story of sixteen-year-old Arturs is interrupted by the First World War. After losing his mother and his home, he finds some consolation in joining the army, because this is the first time national battalions are allowed in the Russian Empire. But war is nothing like Arturs imagined – no glory, no fairness. It is brutal and painful. Arturs is now completely alone as war takes the lives of his father and brother. Also, no progress is made in the promised quick resolution of the war and timely return home. Within the notion that only he alone cares about returning home and that his homeland is just a playground for other nations, Arturs finds strength for the final battle and eventually returns home to start everything from scratch, just like his newly born country.

“Magic Kimono” tells the story of middle-aged Japanese woman Keiko, who has been living in a shell for decades due to a family tragedy in Kobe. The modest act of eating and the sensations it gives us provided Keiko a lifeline to survive. Unwillingly, she joins a group of Japanese women traveling to Northern Europe to participate in a kimono show in the fairytale-like art nouveau world of Riga. During her performance, Keiko suddenly comes face to face with her husband, who disappeared twenty years ago and now wants to read-dress their relationship and who Keiko has become.

A year has passed, and characters of New Year’s Eve Taxi are counting hours until New Year’s Eve once again. All of them have experienced many changes... Andrejs is willing to stay at home with his fiancee, but as Ilze is expecting a baby, she has a lot of cravings, and Andrejs is ready to drive again to get her a burger, scallops, or strawberries. His neighbor, policeman Jēkabs, has been blackmailed throughout the year, but this time, by help of his new friend Anna, he returns to the “crime scene” to redeem his reputation. Innocent drive to the shop turns into a kaleidoscope of events and surprises jeopardising a family gathering.

A nightmarish evening unfolds for David, a former New York Times journalist, when he and his strange new neighbor Robert, accidentally hit a girl on her bike. Buzzed and disoriented, David lets Robert convince him to flee the scene and leave the girl for dead, in order to protect his career. Robert shows no remorse, and in the name of friendship he does unspeakable things to protect the secret. Now that the police are full-on hunting for the hit-and-run killer, things begin to spiral out of control when David’s local newspaper sends him to cover the story where he meets the deceased girl’s sister Vanessa. Despite the circumstances, and her deep desire to find her sister’s killer, the two immediately have a romantic connection, which surprises and haunts David, while pushing Robert to take brutal steps to keep his new friend to himself.

A father who has just been released from prison strives to reconnect with his son. Good intentions are hindered by unexpected obstacles. An unforgettable day spent by the two together might turn into the very last day for one of them.

The young Jekabs, Linda and Rihards enjoy the spring full of romance and bohemian way of life. The apple-trees are in blossom in Riga and the war unavoidably approaches.

An Australian Latvian comes to Latvia, eager to participate in the national Song and Dance Festival. He is alone, without his own dance group - how far will he go to get accepted in a local dance group?

In a dystopian world, a limousine driver named Arthur transports various passengers around the centre of Riga. His every move is monitored by the limousine's artificial intelligence, MO. Arthur and MO's relationship is seemingly friendly and playful, but there is a feeling in the air that Arthur is careful not to provoke MO. The evening is tense and Arthur has several confrontations with MO. Arthur decides to distract the limousine's AI MO by telling jokes to avoid triggering the emotion control device.