The Restored Feature Films Collection brings together best films from Latvian cinema in a broad chronological and genre spectrum, while the Documentary Films Collection features important short films from the Riga way of poetic documentary cinema. The animation collection brings together classic and well-loved animated films for children.
The Latvian State Archives of Audiovisual Documents of the National Archives of Latvia actively participates in the digitisation and restoration of films made in Latvia in cooperation with the National Film Centre (NFC), filmmakers and other cooperation partners. Between 2008 and 2022, 40 feature films, 25 documentaries and 15 animations have been restored with funding from various sources, including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and can be viewed in the digital repository “See, Hear Latvia!” collection Restored Films.
The collection of restored documentary films provides an insight into the important short films within Riga poetic documentary cinema, which in the early 1960s departed from the overtly propagandistic approach characteristic of the first decades of Soviet rule, bringing in lyrical visual metaphors and a personal view of the world around us. The collection includes films by renowned directors Ivars Kraulitis, Aloizs Brencis, Hercs Franks, Ansis Epners, Ivars Seleckis and films by different authors about Latvian cultural figures Vija Artmane, Mariss Jansons, Janis Peters, Raimonds Pauls, Jazeps Rancans, Dzemma Skulme, Ojars Vacietis, Imants Ziedonis, Maija Tabaka and others.
The Restored Feature Film Collection brings together best films from Latvian cinema across a broad chronological and genre spectrum. The collection includes Latvia's first feature film “Lāčplēsis” by director Aleksandrs Rusteikis and films made in the Riga Film Studio after the Second World War whose scripts are based on classics of Latvian literature: “Salna pavasarī” (The Frost in Spring), “Purva bridējs” (The Swamp Wader, also known as The Swamp Treader), “Nāves ēnā” (In the Shadow of Death), “Mērnieku laiki” (The Times of the Land Surveyors), “Ceplis”, as well as popular films by Leonids Leimanis, Janis Streics, Rolands Kalnins, Aloizs Brencis, Gunars Piesis, Gunars Cilinskis and others – loved comedies, detective films, fairy tales and adventure movies for children.
The animation collection brings together classic and favourite animated films for children: nine puppet films by Arnolds Burovs, from “Ki-ke-ri-gu!” to the film “Vanadziņš” (Little Hawk), which is included in the Cultural Canon, and several animated films by director Roze Stiebra with musical accompaniment by composer Imants Kalnins. Thanks to the restoration, it is once again possible to fully appreciate their aesthetic quality and nuanced colour palette.
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