Feature film “Uļa” to screen in Smiltene this September
From September 16, director Viestura Kairišs's new feature film “Uļa” opens in cinemas across Latvia, including Smiltene's cultural center. The film had its international premiere at Cannes this year and has been submitted as Latvia's Oscar entry.
Starting Wednesday, September 16, cinemas across Latvia will begin screening director Viestura Kairišs's new feature film “Uļa.” The film had its international premiere this year in the Cannes Film Festival program and has been submitted as Latvia's entry for the US Academy Awards' “Oscar.”
The film will also be shown in Smiltene: the September program at the Smiltene Municipality Culture Center's cinema hall includes four screenings of “Uļa.” According to Matīss Strautiņš, the Culture Center's film projectionist, the premiere takes place on September 16, with a 7 p.m. screening that day inviting residents and visitors of Smiltene. Additional screenings are scheduled for September 18, 19 and 22, also at 7 p.m. each time.
What the film is about
“Uļa” is a black-and-white feature film whose origins trace back to an idea from actor Kārlis Arnolds Avots, who wanted to portray on screen an emotional and dramatic story of an unusual teenage girl's search for identity. The plot is based on the biography of legendary Latvian basketball player Uļjana Semjonova.
The story is set in the late 1960s. The main character, Uļa, is a teenage girl from an Old Believer family whose unusually tall stature — nearly two meters — catches the attention of basketball coaches. She is taken to Riga, where she finds herself in an unfamiliar big city and in the world of professional sport. The film follows Uļa as she struggles with inner doubts and ultimately faces a defining choice: to hide from the world or to accept herself and become one of the best basketball players in the world.
