The tenth Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF), which will take place on 12-22 October this year, announces its opening night film to be The Invisible Fight. The film is a kung fu comedy charged with Estonian restraint and adventurous daring. The award-winning and dynamic Estonian director Rainer Sarnet directs this film about the fractured existence of Homo soveticus and pop culture’s ability to save the soul of the captive. 

As usual, the festival opens with a film made in Latvia, but for the first time in its history, the honour of the opening screening has been given to a genre film. This year’s opening film was co-produced by the Latvian studio White Picture (with Estonian, Greek and Finnish co-production). Most of the filming took place in Latvian cities – Riga, Liepaja and Straupe – and the cast includes several Latvian actors. Introducing the screening on 12 October, festival director Liene Treimane said: 

“Selecting Rainer Sarnet’s film for opening night embodies the goal of RIGA IFF to not only create a large-scale event for the city’s residents and visitors and to provide an opportunity for people to enjoy the latest films from around the world, but also to serve as a reference point for local filmmakers’ work, and to promote the international reach of the Latvian film industry. We are delighted to see that Latvia is welcoming a broader spectrum of international professionals each year, that more and more strong co-productions are being made, and that the ties between the Baltic States are being strengthened.”

Rainer Sarnet’s black-and-white, otherworldly, symbolic film, November (2017), received the main award of RIGA IFF 2017, as well as more than 20 international and national awards.

The production company White Picture is delighted with The Invisible Fight and the opportunity to co-produce such a special film in the Baltic States. This is producer Alise Ģelze’s and her company’s first collaboration with Estonia, something the studio is now successfully continuing with future films. Alise Ģelze says:

“We are very excited to premiere The Invisible Fight in Latvia and at the opening of the Riga International Film Festival, no less. Screening it here means that we can celebrate this accomplishment together with the Latvian team that was an integral part of making the film!”

The Invisible Fight is a satirical film for cinephiles that includes Baltic humour and characteristics. The film contains references to Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003-2004) and Bruce Lee-inspired nods to Hong Kong martial arts films. The film also doesn’t hide its connection with the undeniably absurd 1970s musical cinema that was so popular during the Soviet era. Through the film’s light-hearted form, the Estonian director manages to outline a caricature of both Soviet and contemporary filmmaking practices. The film offers a series of martial arts scenes, peacocks running around a yard, a flirtation with colonial codes, a broken arm, a fatal love affair, elements of a medley, and a deeply unserious contemplation on the absurdity of life.

The opening screening of RIGA IFF will take place on 12 October at 19:00 at the Splendid Palace cinema. Tickets are available on the festival’s website www.rigaiff.lv and at Biļešu serviss box offices.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary, RIGA IFF will present a selection of more than 100 internationally acclaimed feature and short films highlighting current cinema trends and key contemporary filmmakers. Created by a team of professional local and international curators, the programme will be screened over 11 days in several cinemas in Riga and a selection of the films will also be available online throughout Latvia. A programme of events for industry professionals and public events for the general public will also take place in parallel to the screenings.