Māris Martinsons (born 25 July 1960) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, producer,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

. From 1991 he has lived and worked in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, but moved back to his homeland

in 2010.

Biography

After graduating from the Latvia Conservatoires in 1989 as a drama theatre director, Martinsons worked with Latvian musicians as an independent director/producer of music video clips. His first music video clip, "This is My Car" by the band Jumprava, was the first independent video in Latvia’s history and it received the best video award from eferencein 1989/1990. Since 1991, Māris has lived in

, where together with a partner he founded the production company “ARTeta” (1994). ARTeta has become a leading production company and the biggest studio complex (300, 600 and 900 sq meters big pavilions) in the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. In

, Martinsons worked in the TV field, producing over ten original TV series, and creating TV series and videos, where he often served as both the director and author of these productions. Since 2005 he has participated in various workshops in Europe developing skills in script writing, developing and marketing. In 2006 Martinsons finally wrote a script for the arthouse movie '' Loss''. The script was written in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

, and preparation for the shooting was managed from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. The film was shot in

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, edited just when his third son was born and finished during his visit in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. In January 2008 the film was released in Lithuania. In June 2008 film was selected for the Official Competition of the 11th

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF, , French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai'') is the largest film festival in Asia and China's longest-running international cinema event. The first festival was established in Octobe ...

and it was awarded with 2 prizes: Best Director and Best Music. Later this year '' Loss'' was submitted as the nominee from

for Best Foreign Language Film consideration for the 2009

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(Oscars). In 2009-2010 Māris Martinsons coordinated the development of a second feature film '' Amaya'', also known as ''Hong Kong Confidential''. This film stars brilliant Japanese actress

Kaori Momoi is a Japanese actress. Life and career Momoi was born in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 12, she traveled to London to study dance at the Royal Ballet Academy. After three years, she returned to Tokyo. She graduated from Japan's Bungakuza School ...

and Lithuanian musician/actor

Andrius Mamontovas Andrius Mamontovas (born 23 August 1967) is a Lithuanian rock musician. He is also a songwriter, actor, performer and record producer. He was one of the co-founders of the Lithuanian rock band Foje and the initiator of the LT United project. P ...

. It was notable as the first-ever Latvian-Hong Kong co-production in the film industry. ''Amaya'' has received a mixture of acclaim and criticism since its debut screening in Riga, Latvia on 14 September 2010. It was a Best Foreign Language Film nominee from

submitted to the 2011

(Oscars). This must be a first in

(Oscars) history, having the first two movies by the same director/producer nominated by different countries! On 12 June 2011, the gala Hong Kong premiere of ''Amaya'' at the Harbour Road Arts Centre was attended by dignitaries including the Prime Minister of Latvia,

Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis (; born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously serv ...

, the Latvian Ambassador to China, distinguished Professors Roger King and Maris Martinsons (no relation), and many members of the Latvian community in Hong Kong. In January 2013 the third film by Māris Martinsons '' Christmas.Uncensored'' (original title ''Tyli naktis'') has been released in Lithuania. It's a controversial drama, black comedy with a budget of only US$45 000. The National premiere was held right after Māris Martinsons finished to shoot a psychological mystery drama '' Oki - in the middle of the ocean'' in Los Angeles, USA. It has been re-union with Japanese actress

. The film premiere was on 2014. After the release of drama based on legendary Shakespear's novel - '' Romeo n'Juliet''in 2015, passionately worked on the feature film - drama / mystery '' Magic Kimono'' starring

and Issey Ogata. It's been the first co-production ever between Latvia and Japan.

Filmography

*'' Magic Kimono'' (2017) as director, writer, editor *'' Romeo n'Juliet'' (2015) as director, co-producer, editor *'' Oki - in the middle of the ocean'' (2014) as director, co-producer, writer, editor *'' Christmas.Uncensored'' (2013) as director, co-producer, writer, editor *'' Amaya'' also known as ''Hong Kong Confidential'' (2010) as director, co-producer, editor, writer *'' Loss'' (2008) as director, co-producer, editor, co-writer

Television filmography

*''42'' (TV

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, 2007) as director, producer, co-writer *''Anastasia'' (

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

, 2006) as director, producer, co-writer *''Anastasia'' (

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

, 2005) as director, producer, co-writer *'' Refresh''(TV series, 2004) as author, co-director *''

Tenants A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a lea ...

'' (TV series, 2004) as author, director *''Julia'' (TV series, 2002–2003)as author, co-writer, director, producer *'' De Facto'' (TV series, 2002–2003) as author, director *'' Shapro show'' (TV humor show, 2001–2003) as author, director *'' Valse of destiny'' (TV series, 2001–2002) as author, co-writer, co-director, producer *'' Grybauskai'' (TV series, 2000–2001) as co-director *'' Ben’s diary'' (TV series, 1999–2000) as author, director, producer

Awards

* Shanghai Film Festival (China) **Won: ''Jin Jue'' (Golden Goblet) award for Best Director (for '' Loss'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinsons, Maris 1960 births Living people Film people from Riga Latvian film directors Lielais Kristaps Award winners