The 4th International documentary film festival "Artdocfest/Riga", which will take place from 1st to 8th of March, continues to present the films included in the "Artdocfest Open" competition, and starts ticket sales for seven more screenings.
All the films mentioned below are interwoven with personal and collective memories that evoke special emotions. "Lies I Told Myself" (Israel, Serbia) is a cinematic odyssey about family, love, lies, betrayals and everything connected with it. On the other hand, "Pelican Blue" (Hungary) reminds of the general confusion after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In Hungary at that time, many dreamed of traveling to Western Europe, but most could not afford it. The opportunity to see and enjoy the desired world opened when three guys managed to forge international train tickets. For a pretty long time, the fact that freedom comes with its price was not perceived as something to be reckoned with in good faith.
In five surprisingly different works, the cinematographers look at Russia and its people. "Piblokto" (USA) is created as a shamanic ritual or as a unique meditation on death in isolation from the outside world, observing the daily life of people in Chukotka, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. “The Dmitriev Affair” (Netherlands) tells the story of one man's resistance to the state's erasure of history. He has been convicted for searching for mass graves deep in the woods, where those killed during Stalin's terror and repressions are buried. "Country Abortion" (Czech Republic) St. Petersburg woman expresses her attitude towards war in Ukraine. Her eager desire to go to the front, even as a volunteer, is not understood by her beloved, relatives, or friends. "The Silent Sun of Russia" (Denmark) intimately portrays young people who can no longer imagine their future life in their homeland, and finally, the monochromatic drama "The Last Summer" (France) depicts the ignorance and confusion in the minds of young Muscovites brought by the war caused by their own country.
This year, a total of twenty documentaries have been selected for the "Artdocfest Open" competition. The jury members that will evaluate the selection: Adam Michnik (Poland) – internationally praised historian, editor-in-chief of the largest Polish newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza"; Viesturs Kairišs (Latvia) – director of theater, cinema and opera productions, artistic director of Dailes Theater in Riga, and Chulpan Khamatova (Latvia) – theater and cinema actress who, after leaving Russia, joined the troupe of the New Riga Theater in 2022.
IDFF "Artdocfest/Riga" film screenings will take place in the traditional venues of the festival – the cinema "Splendid Palace", as well as the art center "Zuzeum".