Valmiera is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of 19.35 square kilometres. As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a state city, and is the seat of the Valmiera Municipality. Valmiera is one of the oldest cities in Latvia; it was a member of the Hanseatic League. According to the ethnic composition, Valmiera has the largest proportion of ethnic Latvians among the state cities.
Juris Podnieks was a Soviet/Latvian film director and producer.
Prāta Vētra, known internationally as Brainstorm, is a Latvian pop/rock band. The band became popular internationally in 2000 when they finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star".
Zodiac was a Latvian space disco music band that existed in the 1980s when Latvia was then a part of the Soviet Union. The band was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and has been credited by critics as the Soviet answer to the French band Space who were popular at the time.
The Latvian National Theatre is one of the leading professional theatres in Latvia. The building is in the eclectic style and is an architectural and artistic monument. The country of Latvia was proclaimed in this building in the year 1918. On 23 February 2002, the theatre celebrated its 100th anniversary. The director of National Theatre of Latvia since 2006 has been Ojārs Rubenis.
Vija Artmane was a Latvian theatre and cinema actress.
Buy Bye Beauty is a 2001 documentary film by Swedish director and performance artist Pål Hollender. The film is about the Latvian sex industry and its being fueled by businessmen and sex tourists from Sweden visiting Riga. The film was shot in Riga in July 2000. The narration of the film is in English, with interviews conducted in Russian and Latvian.
Cinemas of Latvia date back to 1910 when the first short films were made. The first cinematic screening in Riga took place on May 28, 1896. By 1914, all major cities in Latvia had cinemas where newsreels, documentaries, and mostly foreign-made short films were screened.
Riga Film Museum is the only museum of its kind in Latvia. It holds various exhibitions that display different aspects of cinema art, actors and film history. The museum was founded in 1988 and is located in two buildings: an 18th-century building located on 10 Peitavas Street in Vecrīga, and the building of Eduards Smiļģis' Theater Museum on 1 Talsu Street in Pārdaugava.
Defenders of Riga 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.
A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve is a 1981 Soviet-Latvian comedy-drama film directed by Jānis Streičs. Movie was produced by Riga Film Studio. The film was awarded the Latvian National Film Prize Lielais Kristaps in 1981. The film is included into Latvian Culture Canon, and voted all-time best Latvian film in popular vote. It is shown every year on TV prior to the summer solstice festival of Jāņi, which is a national holiday in Latvia. The movie is about the struggle of two related families for the eighty-year-old aunt's inheritance through comic and romantic events.
Pauls Butkēvičs is a Latvian film and theater actor, best known for starring in I Remember Everything, Richard and Elpojiet dziļi!. He also starred in Ilgais ceļš kāpās, Rallijs (1978), Nepabeigtās vakariņas (1979), Mirāža (1981) and Aija (1987).
Mikhail Yurievich Segal, is a Russian film director and writer.
Andjei Petras is a Russian composer, a director, and a scriptwriter. Winner of the Grand Prix of the festival FIPA for the original music (Franz+Polina), the National Film Critics Award "The White Elephant" in the category "Best Music Score".
Uldis Pūcītis was a Latvian television, theater and film actor, scriptwriter and film director.
Nurbek Egen is a Kyrgyz and Russian film and TV director and screenwriter. His films have won two Young Artist Awards: his short film Sanzhyra as Best Short Foreign Film and his feature film The Wedding Chest as Outstanding International Drama.
Amida "Ada" Neretniece (1924-2008) was a Soviet Latvian film director.
Artdocfest is an international festival of original documentary films. Artdocfest presents the brightest non-format documentaries of all genres. It was established in 2007 by the Directorate of the Russian national non-fiction films award "Lavrovaya vetv". Artdocfest is held annually in Moscow (Russia), in the first decade of December. Since 2014, it has also been held in Saint Petersburg (Russia) and Riga (Latvia).
"Kinoshock" Open Film Festival of CIS and Baltic countries, also spelt Kinoshok, is a film festival staged in the Black Sea resort of Anapa, Russia, each September. "CIS" refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, comprising nine member states.
