From 15 to 25 October, Latvia’s largest celebration of cinema, the Riga International Film Festival, or RIGA IFF, will take place for the 13th time. Over 11 days, the festival programme, this year accompanied by the motto “YOU ARE HERE”, will invite audiences to discover unique stories, vivid emotions, and the highlights of contemporary cinema. Festival-goers can already get a first glimpse of the programme and plan their visit by purchasing specially priced ticket packs.

Encouraging audiences to venture beyond the familiar, the extensive yet carefully curated programme of the Riga International Film Festival will once again serve as a reliable guide beyond the usual cinema experience. The call to be present is also reflected in this season’s motto “YOU ARE HERE”, further explained by RIGA IFF director Liene Treimane:

“”YOU ARE HERE” is at once a coordinate, an affirmation and a welcome. Three simple words we encounter in airports, on transit maps, in museums and along hiking trails – words that help us orient ourselves and understand where we are. Within the context of RIGA IFF, however, they take on a broader meaning. They remind us of the most important point of departure: you are here. In this moment. In this life. In this place. Facing the cinema screen and surrounded by fellow audiences.

To move forward, we first need to know where we are. Every cinematic journey begins with presence – with the willingness to set aside the noise of everyday life for a moment and fully surrender to someone else’s story. At a time when our attention is constantly fragmented by countless competing demands, the opportunity to spend two hours sharing the same space and the same moment with a film and with other viewers becomes something truly special. Cinema does not change where we are. It changes the place from which we see the world.”

The motto is further expressed through the visual identity created by Valters Kalsers and Agnese Bebre. Artists explain:

“This year’s visual identity revolves around a meditative point where our attention is calibrated in time and space. It is the point where a respite from the noise of everyday life, the cinema screen, and curiosity about the unknown meet. The RIGA IFF programme sections form the backbone of the identity – a grid designed for carrying content. They are not finished answers, but rather a framework to be built upon through individual festival experience. It is a new beginning – an invitation to bring content into the foreground, quiet what is unnecessary, and highlight what matters most.”

A first glimpse of this year’s programme is now available on the RIGA IFF website, featuring films that have garnered acclaim and attention at Cannes, Berlin and other international festivals, national premieres of Latvian films, and other noteworthy works from across European and world cinema.

The RIGA IFF programme includes the controversial chronicle of a family’s disintegration Gentle Monster (Doux Monstre), starring French screen icons Léa Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve; the Silver Bear-winning drama Queen at Sea, led by European screen legend Juliette Binoche; and the existential thriller The Unknown (L’Inconnue), which premiered in the Cannes Competition. Audiences will also discover the self-reflexive horror dramedy Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring Gillian Anderson; Everybody Digs Bill Evans, a portrait of the jazz icon of the second half of the 20th century; No Good Men, the spiritual sister of the cult classic Casablanca; and Rose, a Berlinale darling with the outstanding Sandra Hüller in the title role.

RIGA IFF will also celebrate national premieres of Latvian films such as Laila Pakalniņa’s poem of moving and still images I Think About the Cat (Es domāju par kaķi), Reinis Kalviņš’s psychological detective drama The Bog (Klajumā aiz meža), Kārlis Bergs and Andrew Siedenburg’s film essay Weeping Rocks, and others. Meanwhile, this year’s retrospective section turns to the allure of the Euro-thriller, exploring a tradition shaped by Nordic noir, finely crafted suspense, and collective paranoia. More titles from this year’s programme will be announced ahead of the full programme reveal in September.

Encouraging film lovers to plan their RIGA IFF visit in advance, a limited number of “early bird” 10-ticket bundles are now on sale, offering access to screenings of contemporary world cinema, national premieres, and festival competition programmes at a specially reduced price. A festival pass – a key to almost all public screenings of the RIGA IFF programme, including the opening night – is also available. Both can be purchased on the festival website rigaiff.lv and at Biļešu Serviss sales points.

The 13th RIGA IFF season will take place from 15 to 25 October at the festival’s home venue – cinema “Splendid Palace” – as well as at “Forum Cinemas”, the National Library of Latvia, the Rothko Museum in Daugavpils, Siguldas Devons, and other venues. In parallel, the festival industry programme RIGA IFF FORUM will take place, bringing together film professionals from around the world in Riga, fostering international cooperation and the development of new projects. Festival news can be followed on rigaiff.lv and RIGA IFF social media channels, as well as by subscribing to the RIGA IFF newsletter.

RIGA IFF is made possible with support from the State Culture Capital Foundation, the EU programme “Creative Europe – MEDIA”, Riga City Council, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and the National Film Centre of Latvia.