Defenders of Riga

Defenders of Riga (Latvian: Rīgas sargi) is a 2007 Latvian feature film directed by Aigars Grauba starring Elita Kļaviņa, Jānis Reinis, and Artūrs Skrastiņš. The film depicts the Latvian defense of Riga in November 1919 during its War of Independence. It was selected as the Latvian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 81st Academy Awards, but was not nominated.^[2]

Defenders of Riga
Cover of Scandinavian release
Directed by	Aigars Grauba
Written by	Andris Kolbergs Valentins Jemeļjanovs Lisa Eichhorn Andrejs Ēķis Aigars Grauba
Produced by	Andrejs Ēķis
Starring	Jānis Reinis Elita Kļaviņa Artūrs Skrastiņš
Cinematography	Gvido Skulte
Edited by	Līga Pipare
Music by	Aigars Grauba
Release date	11 November 2007 (2007-11-11)
Country	Latvia
Languages	Latvian, German, Russian
Budget	LVL 2.2 million[1]

With a budget of over 2 million lats, Defenders of Riga was the most expensive Latvian film at the time.^[3]

Cast

• Jānis Reinis as Mārtiņš
• Elita Kļaviņa as Elza
• Ģirts Krūmiņš as Pavel Bermondt
• Romualds Ancāns as Rüdiger von der Goltz
• Indra Briķe as Countess
• Vilis Daudziņš as Paulis
• Uldis Dumpis as Priest
• Kęstutis Jakštas as Kārlis Ulmanis
• Andris Keišs as Ernests Savickis
• Ģirts Ķesteris as Arnolds
• Artūrs Skrastiņš as Jēkabs
• Agris Māsēns as Augusts Savickis

Reception

Five weeks after the premiere it had been viewed by 262,000 people, making it the most-watched film in Latvia since the regaining of independence.^[4]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result
2008	Lielais Kristaps	Best Supporting Actress (Ināra Slucka)	Won
		Best Production Design (Mārtiņš Milbrets)	Won
		Best Supporting Actor (Pēteris Krilovs)	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor (Ģirts Krūmiņš)	Nominated
		Best Costume Design (Sandra Sila)	Nominated
		Best Make-Up (Emīlija Eglīte)	Nominated

Production

The shooting of the film began in the spring of 2004. The outdoor scenes were shot at the 8.5 hectare Cinevilla backlot in Tukums, Latvia, where parts of Riga's Old Town and Riga's Pārdaugava district were built especially for Defenders of Riga. Around 200 extras took part in the film's battle scenes.^[3] It was the first Latvian film to make an extensive use of special effects and computer graphics.^[2]

References

1. Āboliņa, Daira (31 January 2010). "Streičs directs another hit film for Latvia". Film New Europe Association. Retrieved 23 December 2012. The only Latvian film more expensive than this one is Defenders of Riga (with budget 2.2 million LVL)
2. Moody, Annemarie (26 November 2008). "Latvia Contends for Best Foreign Film With War VFX". Animation World Network. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
3. Vinten, Julie (9 December 2004). "Defending the new Latvian cinema". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
4. Āboliņa, Daira (18 December 2008). "Latvia's National Hit: Defenders of Riga". Film New Europe Association. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

External links

• Defenders of Riga at IMDb
• Official international trailer (In English)