This is a version of Riga. It does not exist in the scope of grand events, but rather in the mundane, in gestures and in that, which is recognisable. Thus emerges a portrait of the city through the eyes of a new generation – with a slightly glazed look, lightly clenched teeth, and an always surrendering heart. Valters is a boy from Riga, a twenty-year-old who is more attracted to life on the opposite side of the sea than to the aches of coming of age. Oscillating between his duties as a sailor, a loving relationship that is beginning to show cracks, and a routine life, he searches for meaning in the excesses of written surfeits.

A unique music film album, made by young director Ieva Aleksa in collaboration with electronic music duo Bel Tempo (Jūlijs Melngailis and Andis Ansons). It was filmed on 16mm film, with the directors bringing the characters born from the band’s compositions to the big screen. The four-part structure with a prologue is inhabited by Valters, played by Kārlis Arnolds Avots, the anticipatory Penelope from the neighbourhood is embodied by actress Ieva Estere Barkāne, while the internationally acclaimed singer Elīza Legzdiņa plays the mermaid. The premiere of the hybrid film will be presented at RIGA IFF in the atmosphere of a concert.