Marta Herca receives national film award Lielais Kristaps for Best Documentary Director

The Latvian national film awards Lielais Kristaps took place on Sunday 4 February. The award for Best Feature went to Elza Gauja's Pastkarte no Romas (A Postcard from Rome), and the award for Best Documentary Director was presented to Marta Herca, editor of the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) student media network Skaļāk. She received the award for her film Mēs tikai tagad sākam (It’s Only Now We Begin).

Marta Herca. Photo: LETA, Zane Bitere

Meanwhile, the most awards, four in total, went to director Aiks Karapetjan's film Bezkaunīgie (The Brazen), while the animated film Sirds likums (Rule of the Heart) and the miniseries Padomju džinsi (Soviet Jeans) each received three awards.

Scenographer and long-time chairperson of the Latvian Filmmakers’ Union, Ieva Romanova, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award for Best Documentary went to Viss būs labi (Everything Will Be Alright) directed by Staņislavs Tokalovs, the Best Animated Film was Sirds likums (Rule of the Heart) by Roze Stiebra, while Padomju džinsi (Soviet Jeans) directed by Tokalovs and Juris Kursietis was recognised as Best TV Series.

The award for Best Narrative Short went to Armands Začs for Resistance is Futile, while the film Latvijas kods. Pilnmēness serenade (Full Moon Serenade) directed by Mārcis and Laura Ābeļi received the award for Best Documentary Short.

The award for Best Debut was this year bestowed upon Elpot zem ūdens (Breathing Underwater) directed by Ronalds Mežmačs, while Emīlija Karetņikova’s Mana bērnības ķermeņa atzīšanās (Confessions of My Childhood Body) won Best Student Film.

Director Linda Stūre's animated film Beigu beigas (In the End) received the jury's recognition for a concise and precise story that deeply moves, delicately and existentially portrays the traditions of Latgale.

Aiks Krapetjans received the award for Best Director for his film Bezkaunīgie (The Brazen) for which Jurģis Kmins won the award for Best Cinematography. Tokalovs, Teodora Markova, and Valdemars Kalinovskis were recognised as Best Screenwriters for Padomju džinsi (Soviet Jeans).

The Best Documentary Cinematographer award was presented to Jevhens Titarenko and Ivans Fomičenko for their work on the film Austrumu fronte (Eastern Front).

The award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary Film went to Stiebra for Sirds likums (Rule of the Heart), while the film’s artist Aleksejs Naumovs was recognised with an award for Best Production Design in an Animated Film.

The Audience Award went to director Ināra Kolmane's feature film Mātes piens (Soviet Milk). The winner of this award was determined by a public vote on the public media portal LSM.lv from 12 January to 2 February. 12 films were eligible for this award.

This year's international jury was composed of producer Natalia Libet (Ukraine) and film scholar Claus Loeser (Germany), director Jānis Ābele (Latvia), film critic Daira Āboliņa (Latvia), director Ieva Ozoliņa (Latvia), and director and actress Indra Roga (Latvia).