"Days of great loss, apocalyptic fear, and intense hope alternate with days where you can take quiet pleasure in the beauty of everyday matters, previously overlooked," commenting on RIGA IFF 2022 theme, reveals Festival Director Liene Treimane.
Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF), a festival which brings diverse, exciting and handpicked film programme to viewers in cinemas and online, this year until 23rd of October will explore the theme "The sweet chaos of daily good and evil", taken from famous Italian director's Paolo Pasolini poem.
As the quote above mentions, we live in times where ordinary can become extraordinary, when everyday life is mixed with pleasures and pain. Films offer whatever the viewer is searching for - peace, comfort, provocation, escape, emotional journey, surprise and catharsis. It's the magic of cinema! We've prepared a RIGA IFF treasure collection & guide - our recommendations on what to see & hear at this year's festival. Take a look!
8 PICKS BY BOBE.ME
THEOREM . Directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini 15 OCTOBER, 18:00
Foreword by the programme curator: The film’s narrative revolves around one of cinema's most enduring enigmas that has overgrown with interpretations. The challenge for the viewer will be to create their own. And to meet the Stranger.
CLOSE. Directed by: Lukas Dhont 15 OCTOBER, 20:30
Foreword by the programme curator: The strength of a friendship is equal to the fragility of life. An old and simple truth. Belgian films have become a brand to pay attention to when searching for what new European cinema could be.
CORSAGE. Directed by: Marie Kreutzer 16 OCTOBER, 19:00 / 20 OCTOBER 19:00
Foreword by the programme curator: An elegantly rowdy take on the legendary Empress Sissi. A cigarette in hand, a tattooed shoulder, and a prominently raised middle finger – is this how a beautiful bird in a golden cage should behave?
BUTTERFLY VISION. Directed by: Maksym Nakonechnyi 17 OCTOBER, 18:00
Foreword by the programme curator: In sensitively showing the imprint war crimes have on people's souls, Nakonechnyi has achieved the seemingly impossible on screen.
PLEASE BABY PLEASE. Directed by: Amanda Kramer 17 OCTOBER, 19:00
Foreword by the programme curator: A camp version of 1950s musicals overflowing with sexuality, brutality, and style: a world seen through the dizzying eye of a kaleidoscope.
THAT KIND OF SUMMER. Directed by: Denis Côté 18 OCTOBER, 20:00
Foreword by the programme curator: Cinephile Denis Coté has brought what seem to be the heroines/nymphomaniacs from a 1970s B-movie together on screen, but he has given them an identity and vulnerability.
BEAUTIFUL BEINGS. Directed by: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson 21 OCTOBER, 18:00
Foreword by the programme curator: The energy of youth is both wistfully beautiful and destructive. Beautiful Beings invites you to witness a journey that could otherwise only be accessed in a teenager's well-hidden diary.
AEIOU – A QUICK ALPHABET OF LOVE . Directed by: Nicolette Krebitz 22 OCTOBER, 21:15
Foreword by the programme curator: Recovery therapy for those affected by Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher (2001). A love that transcends both real and imaginary barriers, like a difference in age, the law, and rejection.
Full festival programme here.
EVENT NOT TO MISS - BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
RIGA IFF is a special festival that goes beyond only films. Their unique Baltic Music Video film programme screening brings together musicians, videographers and creative teams, which stand behind music video making. This year you'll have a chance to see 18 music videos and hear behind-the-scenes stories in discussion with industry professionals.
Read more and watch videos here!
The BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition screening invites viewers, festival guests, filmmakers, and musicians to come together and experience music videos in all their glory and craziness. A screening event you are sure to remember!
FILMS AREN'T JUST MOVING PICTURES - EXPLORE CINEMA THROUGH MUSIC
One thing is what you see on the big screen, the other - what you hear. Music & sound has a very important role, though sometimes not appreciated enough. Throughout the festival we will be adding some film soundtracks that catches our ear and can be found on streaming platforms.
DISCOVER THE LOCAL - BALTIC FILMS
THE DIARY OF VAINO VAHING. Directed by: Rainer Sarnet 20 OCTOBER, 21:30
Estonian director Rainer Sarnet won the main prize of the RIGA IFF Feature Competition in 2017 for his allegorical, black-and-white film November (2017). Here, he delves into the minute history and colorful personality of Vahing’s diagnoses of social issues. The documentary portrait with staged scenes is not only a subjectively produced history of illness, but also a delicate postscript for the era.
BURIAL. Directed by: Emilija Škarnulytė 20 OCTOBER, 18:00
This documentary mosaic by Emilija Škarnulytė, one of the new generation of Lithuanian directors, has captured the zeitgeist – the Cold War 2.0 is currently playing out in the minds of many countries’ citizens, especially considering the current geopolitical turmoil and energy crisis.
SHOAL. Directed by: Toms Harjo 18 OCTOBER, 18:00
Foreword by the programme curator: An elegantly rowdy take on the legendary Empress Sissi. A cigarette in hand, a tattooed shoulder, and a prominently raised middle finger – is this how a beautiful bird in a golden cage should behave?
Discover The Baltic Film Landscape in HOME MADE BALTICS programme.
Lose and find yourself in a cinematic journey at RIGA IFF until 23 October. Full festival programme and more info here.
