On 12 October, the 10th edition of the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF) opens with the Baltic premiere of the masterful Estonian kung fu comedy The Invisible Fight (Rainer Sarnet). Celebrating the festival’s tenth anniversary, RIGA IFF will present the year’s most important and award-winning films from the most prestigious film festivals, highlighting current cinematic trends and key contemporary filmmakers. The programme, put together by a team of professional local and international curators, will be screened over 11 days at Splendid Palace and Forum Cinemas in Riga; some RIGA IFF films will also be available online throughout Latvia. Tickets for the screenings and other events can be purchased on the festival’s website rigaiff.lv and at Biļešu Serviss box offices.

The tenth anniversary season of RIGA IFF is embodied in the motto “10 is just a number. Adventures are limitless.” The nine sections of the festival programme will bring together the greatest films from the current season including daring debuts, and feature and short film competitions. You will be able to find gems from the Nordic countries in the NORDIC HIGHLIGHTS section, see the attempt to capture the spirit of contemporary German-language cinema in the section ZEITGEIST DEUTSCHLAND, discover (or rediscover) special retrospective showcases dedicated to the directors Jim Jarmusch and Roy Anderson, and enjoy films for the whole family in the KIDS’ REEL section. Surprise musical performances, book launches, and lectures by industry representatives will complement the extensive film programme.

Several of the festival’s most popular films will already be screened during the first weekend of RIGA IFF – Wim Wenders’ ode to the lives of happy people Perfect Days, cult director Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter starring Tilda Swinton as both mother and daughter, and Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner Celine Song’s debut film Past Lives. The retrospective of Jim Jarmusch’s works will also begin to take shape with the screening of his first feature Stranger than Paradise in Splendid Palace on 14 October, followed by a screening of anti-western Dead Man the following day. 

Screenings of award-winning and critically acclaimed films are planned throughout the festival – the RIGA IFF programme also includes Cannes winning courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, and Todd Haynes’ melodrama May December, starring Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, and Charles Melton. Further screenings include the next installment of Christian Petzold’s classic trilogy, Afire, the latest film from legendary British director Ken Loach, The Old Oak, and other works from the current cinema season.

Younger film fans will also be able to find cinematic adventures to go on! On Friday, there will be a family screening of Adventures in the Land of Asha in the Small Hall of Splendid Palace, while two feature-length animated films by French animation masters will be screened at the weekend: Nina and Hedgehog’s Secret (14 October at 13:00) and Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams (15 October at 13:00). On Saturday 14 October, there will also be a special relaxed screening of animated shorts, which is suitable as a first cinema experience for younger audiences or as an adventure for children with disabilities or autism spectrum disorder.

On 13 September, the discussion series Big Screen – Big Talks, created in collaboration with the PR agency Golin Riga, will launch after the screening of Totem, Mexico’s submission for this year’s Best International Feature award at the Oscars. Throughout the festival, audiences are invited to screenings with “added value” – post-film panel discussions with experts. The aim of these talks is not only to discuss the films, but also to explore the issues and topics raised in them that can be difficult to talk about in everyday life. The full programme of the series can be found on the festival’s website rigaiff.lv/conversations

On Saturday afternoon, one of the festival’s special events will take place – a concert dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the festival, RIGA IFF on the Platform, will be held in the cultural space Hanzas Perons. It will feature a concert by artist, musician, and film music composer Alex Zhang Hungtai (Dirty Beaches), and the night will continue with the electronic music duo Giant Swan.

To help you navigate the festival’s programme, screening schedules will be displayed at the festival’s two home cinemas, Splendid Palace and Forum Cinemas, and elsewhere in Riga, while the festival’s digital catalogue is available on the website rigaiff.lv. The festival website also features a special Festival Guide section, where you can find a selection of films and other festival events. This year for the first time, an information centre created by the festival’s main partner Tet will be located at the Splendid Palace cinema, the central venue of RIGA IFF, for the convenience of visitors.

Tickets for all screenings can be purchased on the festival’s website rigaiff.lv and at “Biļešu serviss” box offices.

RIGA IFF’s main partner is the media and technology company Tet. The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the EU programme Creative Europe MEDIA, Riga City Council, and the National Film Centre.