Country guide · Europe
10 Essential Latvian Films + 10 Movies Set in or About Latvia
Latvia on the atlas: the strongest films of its own cinema, and the films the rest of the world has set there. Every list is curated and ranked by hand.
10 Essential Latvian Films
Native cinema in Latvia’s own creative voice — the passport route that earns visas and citizenship.
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1. Flow
When a great flood engulfs the world, a solitary cat is forced to share a drifting boat with an unlikely band of other animals, and together they must learn to cooperate to survive the transformed landscape. A wordless, wondrous, Oscar-winning animated adventure.
Curator’s note: Flow ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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2. Four White Shirts
A young Latvian musician who installs telephones by day and writes pop songs by night runs afoul of Soviet cultural censors who won't let his band perform. A wry, once-banned drama about art and control behind the Iron Curtain.
Curator’s note: Four White Shirts ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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3. Ceplis
In 1920s Latvia, an ambitious wheeler-dealer launches a brick-making company that promises riches, drawing in eager investors — until the scheme's shaky foundations begin to crack. A satirical period comedy of greed and speculation.
Curator’s note: Ceplis ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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4. A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve
When a lonely old countrywoman wins a car in a lottery that she cannot even drive, long-absent relatives suddenly descend on her, all angling to inherit the prize. A gently satirical Latvian comedy about family and greed.
Curator’s note: A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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5. Blizzard of Souls
A sixteen-year-old Latvian boy, his young life shattered by the outbreak of World War I, enlists in a national battalion and is swept into the horrors of the trenches and the fight for his homeland. A sweeping, sobering war epic.
Curator’s note: Blizzard of Souls ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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6. Away
After surviving a plane crash on a mysterious island, a young man sets out on a long, solitary trek across forests, deserts, and mountains, pursued by a looming dark spirit. A hand-crafted, wordless animated odyssey.
Curator’s note: Away ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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7. Mellow Mud
Orphaned by their father's death and abandoned by their mother, two Latvian siblings live under their domineering grandmother — until a sudden turn forces the teenage sister to take desperate measures to hold their fragile life together. A tender coming-of-age drama.
Curator’s note: Mellow Mud ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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8. Dawn
Inspired by the Soviet propaganda myth of a boy who denounced his own father to the secret police, this stark, stylized black-and-white film reimagines the story as a chilling parable of collectivism and betrayal. A striking formal experiment.
Curator’s note: Dawn ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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9. The Pagan King
In the 13th century, a young man unexpectedly inherits the crown of a Baltic tribe and must find the strength to unite his people against the invading crusaders bent on conquering their land. A sweeping historical action epic.
Curator’s note: The Pagan King ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
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10. The Soviet Story
This provocative documentary draws stark parallels between the crimes of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, arguing that Stalin's regime committed mass atrocities on an industrial scale. A polemical historical exposé.
Curator’s note: The Soviet Story ranks among the strongest manually compared works of Latvia cinema for craft, enduring reputation or cult standing, influence, and national-cinema importance.
10 Movies Set in or About Latvia
Outside filmmakers looking toward Latvia: optional perspectives for a wider journey.
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1. Düğün Dernek
When a man's long-absent son returns to their Anatolian village announcing his engagement to a Latvian woman, the proud but broke father insists on throwing a lavish wedding he cannot afford. A wildly popular Turkish comedy.
Curator’s note: A Turkish comedy whose extended Riga trip is the central outsider adventure.
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2. Coup de Grâce
In the chaotic Baltic borderlands after World War I, a countess is consumed by unrequited love for her brother's aloof Prussian-officer comrade, as counter-revolutionary war rages around their crumbling estate. Volker Schlöndorff's austere drama from Yourcenar's novel.
Curator’s note: A German-French drama set amid civil conflict in Latvia after World War I.
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3. Meine Mütter - Spurensuche in Riga
Filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, discovering late in life that he was adopted, travels to Riga to search for the truth about his biological mother. A personal documentary.
Curator’s note: A German documentary tracing the director's adoption and wartime origins in Riga.
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4. Baryshnikov: The Dancer and the Dance
This documentary profiles the legendary Riga-born ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov, capturing his extraordinary artistry and the discipline behind it. A dance portrait.
Curator’s note: An American feature portrait of Riga-born dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
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5. Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous
This documentary explores the life and monumental work of Mark Rothko, the Latvian-born master of abstract expressionism, tracing the vision behind his luminous fields of color. An art-history portrait.
Curator’s note: An American documentary on Daugavpils-born painter Mark Rothko and the formation of his identity.
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6. Men Without a Fatherland
In the turmoil following World War I, a Freikorps unit battles Communist forces attempting to seize control of the Baltic states. A German wartime drama.
Curator’s note: A German film centered on Baltic German displacement and identity in Latvia.
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7. Jomfruene i Riga
A naive, fortune-seeking Norwegian businessman arrives in post-Soviet Riga and, through his romance with a beautiful young Latvian woman, becomes tangled up with the mafia and shady dealings. A comic thriller.
Curator’s note: A Norwegian comedy about an outsider seeking opportunity in post-Soviet Riga.
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8. Red Hot
In 1959 Moscow, a young Soviet music student risks everything — including the wrath of the state — to embrace his forbidden passion for American rock and roll. A romantic Cold War drama.
Curator’s note: A Canadian film about rock music, censorship, and youth in Soviet Latvia.
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9. The Baltic Truth
This documentary examines the long shadow of occupation and the struggle over historical memory across the Baltic states, with Latvia at its center. A political-history essay.
Curator’s note: An American documentary examining occupation and memory across the Baltic states, with Latvia as a principal case.
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10. Gidon Kremer: Finding Your Own Voice
This documentary portrait follows the celebrated Riga-born violinist Gidon Kremer, exploring his Baltic roots, his singular artistry, and his lifelong search for his own voice. A musical profile.
Curator’s note: A Lithuanian-authored documentary portrait of Riga-born violinist Gidon Kremer and his Baltic formation.
Selected by the FilmsAroundThe.World editorial desk
Lists are ranked for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and depth of engagement with place. Native selections require a verified creative relationship to the country; souvenir selections require an outside creative lead and a country-centered story. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
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