With curious eyes and an open mind, the festival offers a glimpse into the history of cinema and its present, bringing together the works of talented and courageous directors. Some of these authors have received little attention undeservedly, while others are considered film history canon.

This year, RIGA IFF highlights two filmmaking families. The first is one of the most unique on our planet – the Italian-American Coppola dynasty – whose influence extends from the origins of New Hollywood in the late 1960s to resonating in the currents of contemporary film through the work of Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, and many others.

Director Francis Ford Coppola – one of the most notable Hollywood auteurs of the latter half of the 20th century, and still actively working – has said he has always fought for creative freedom, as producers and “suits” control your every move. His daughter Sofia has become one of the most significant American directors; his son Roman is a pioneer of American independent cinema; his nephew Nicolas Cage is one of the last expressionist actors; and his granddaughter, director Gia Coppola, breathes in sync with the new generation of filmmakers.

The selection will offer recently restored films by the Coppola dynasty. Among them is the Cannes-lauded psychological thriller The Conversation (1974) – starring the recently departed, iconic actor Gene Hackman (1930–2025), a young Harrison Ford, and others. Meanwhile, the anti-war, Western-like journey into madness – the grand Apocalypse Now (1979) – will be screened for the first time in Latvia in the Final Cut version by Coppola himself. Both films were directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

The selection will also include the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991) by Coppola’s wife Eleanor – a reflection on the two years spent in the Philippine jungle, reflecting on the traps of studio control and artistic freedom as well as budget traps, and conditions that can be foreseen but not controlled. Alongside this, Sofia Coppola’s debut The Virgin Suicides (1999) – a coming-of-age subgenre classic – will be screened in celebration of its 25th anniversary since its original release.

In the case of the second family, the festival turns its gaze across the ocean – back to Europe – focusing on the French New Wave generation, singing intimate praises to the big city. The short film anthology Six in Paris (1965) provides a glimpse at another kind of “family” – a circle of authors that includes Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Jean Rouch, Éric Rohmer, and others. In the post-war years, coming from a film critic background, the ideologists of the French New Wave embodied the very concept of kindred spirits: they directed, edited, wrote scripts together; they watched each other’s work and played minor roles in each other’s films.