''Defenders of Riga'' ( lv, Rīgas sargi) is a 2007

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by

Aigars Grauba Aigars is a Latvian language, Latvian masculine given name and may refer to: *Aigars Apinis (born 1973) Latvian decathlete and Paralympic medalist *Aigars Cipruss (born 1972) Latvian ice hockey player *Aigars Fadejevs (born 1975) Latvian track and ...

starring Elita Kļaviņa,

Jānis Reinis Jānis Reinis (13 December 1960 – 26 August 2016) was a Latvian actor. In the theatre, he worked for several years in Latvian National Theatre and Dailes Theatre. He also took part in several films. Filmography References External lin ...

, and

Artūrs Skrastiņš Artūrs Skrastiņš (born 18 September 1974) is a Latvian actor. In the theater, since 1996 he has worked for Dailes teātris. He also has taken part in several films. In 1998 he received the Latvian National Film Prize Lielais Kristaps Th ...

. The film depicts the Latvian defense of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in November 1919 during its

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of o ...

. It was selected as the Latvian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

, but was not nominated. With a budget of over 2 million lats, ''Defenders of Riga'' was the most expensive Latvian film at the time.

Cast

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.

Awards and nominations

Production

The shooting of the film began in the spring of 2004. The outdoor scenes were shot at the 8.5 hectare

Cinevilla Cinevilla is a backlot in Slampe parish in the Tukums Municipality in Latvia, and was created for the outdoor shootings of the feature film ''Defenders of Riga''. It is the only backlot in Latvia, and consists of different sections, including a s ...

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

Tukums Tukums (; german: Tuckum; liv, Tukāmō) is a town in the Zemgale region of Latvia. History The historical center of Tukums developed between trade routes leading from the mouth of the Daugava River to Prussia. The oldest part is today's Ta ...

, 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. It was the first Latvian film to make an extensive use of

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

and

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

References

External links

*
Official international trailer
(In English) 2007 films Latvian drama films Films set in Latvia Films set in Riga Films directed by Aigars Grauba Films shot in Latvia Films set in 1919 {{Latvia-film-stub