For the first time in its history, the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF) is opening up the RIGA IFF AWARDS ceremony to audiences to celebrate the culmination of the festival’s competitions and honour the achievements of the winners. The awards ceremony will be directed by young actors and directors Gerds Lapošks and Matīss Ozols and hosted by theatre and film actor Kaspars Dumburs. The awards ceremony will take place at RIGA IFF’s home venue, Splendid Palace, on 21 October, the second to last day of the festival, at 20:30 (arrivals from 20:00). Tickets are required to attend the event in person, but you can also follow the live stream on LSM.lv.

The RIGA IFF competitions are an integral part of the RIGA IFF programme and constitute the biggest film celebration in Latvia. The competitions form the core of the festival’s quest for bold and innovative cinema. This season, more than 2,000 entries were submitted to the RIGA IFF competitions. After a rigorous selection process, 84 films in seven categories were selected to be judged by the festival’s jury of international and local industry experts. The jury will select the winners of the Feature Film Competition from the Baltic Sea Region and the Nordic countries, the Best International and National Short Film, and the Best Baltic Music Video. Additional awards will be given to feature-length, series, and short film projects featured in the RIGA IFF FORUM, the festival’s industry section.

The filmmakers of the nominated films, representatives of the national and international juries, the festival team, film industry professionals, and the audience will gather in person in the Large Hall of the Splendid Palace cinema. Tickets for the live awards ceremony on 21 October can be purchased on the festival website rigaiff.lv, in the RIGA IFF box office at Splendid Palace, and at Biļešu Serviss box offices. The awards ceremony will also be broadcast live on LSM.lv starting at 20:30.

RIGA IFF’s main partner is the media and technology company Tet. The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the EU programme Creative Europe MEDIA, Riga City Council, and the National Film Centre.