Family Instinct is a film about incest - social taboo and a violation of religious norms. Zanda is a 28-year-old woman, trying to survive with her two children in a god-forsaken Latvian village. Valdis is serving a year's sentence in prison for physically abusing them. Family Instinct follows Zanda for the duration of that year as she tries to cope with the hardships of poverty and the amorous of frequently drunken attentions of several local men. During the year local community forces her to make a difficult choice: to stay with Valdis or with her children. Film is structured around the impending release of Valdis; it is in fact a heartbreakingly touching and unflinching look at the lives of several people that live on the extreme margins of Latvian society. The film provides extraordinarily intimate footage of this group of vulnerable people, drawing you into a claustrophobic but compelling world that few viewers will have ever experienced. Family Instinct is at times shocking and heartbreaking in its depiction of life on the edge, but its central characters nevertheless display a wonderful sense of humour and even optimism in the face of terrible adversity.
Directed by Andris Gauja
A small village on the Baltic coast. Three guys - Andzha, Boga and Paleface spend their days drinking beer, killing time and picking up fights with neighbouring villagers. Andzha`s marriage proposal sends his girlfriend Simona on a quest for true love. Their relationship is tested when Andzha`s brother Guido unexpectedly arrives. A film about two brothers and their illusions of women.
Cast: Iveta Pole, Artuss Kaimiņš, Andris Keišs, Aigars Apinis, Varis Piņķis, Māra Ķimele, Guna Zariņa, Līga Vītiņa, Agnese Čivle
Directed by: Juris Poškus
Following an ad in the paper, Ilze leaves her native village to become an actress. She fails the audition, but her pride won't let her return home. Her boyfriend is skeptical about her ambitions, so he comes after her to bring her back home. The plot evolves around their relationship as they pretend and lie to each other trying to deal with emotional dissonance.
Two men in post-communist Latvia go around preaching Gods word and get involved into all kind of encounters. Erik is a super-pious moralist. But Daniel is a super-consumerist who preaches the gospel of wealth. Their arguments and battles are laugh-out-loud funny as they attempt to convert the heathen (who smile and look on in pure amusement).