Movies by Guna Zariņa

The Good Neighbor
A nightmarish evening unfolds for David, a former New York Times journalist, when he and his strange new neighbor Robert, accidentally hit a girl on her bike. Buzzed and disoriented, David lets Robert convince him to flee the scene and leave the girl for dead, in order to protect his career. Robert shows no remorse, and in the name of friendship he does unspeakable things to protect the secret. Now that the police are full-on hunting for the hit-and-run killer, things begin to spiral out of control when David’s local newspaper sends him to c...

Betrayal
While examining one of her patients, a doctor reveals that her husband is cheating with the patient's wife.

Selection
The time for the annual great graveyard celebration is approaching in a small town. Scientist Laila can’t attend it alone this year. She has to make a choice.

Lame-o’s
Lame-o’s is set just before the Millennium, in 1999, and is the story of three school friends who are among the most unpopular girls in their class. The friends are determined to radically change the situation. The three friends at the centre of the story are Sarmīte, Sveta and Katrīna, who are studying in the last class of the secondary school. The upcoming Millennium and their approaching graduation make them undertake various measures to become appreciated and liked, which eventually challenge their friendship.

The Chronicles of Melanie
The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia: Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandr and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get deported to Siberia. In her fight against cold, famine and cruelty, she only gains new strength through the letters she writes to Aleksandr, full of hope for a free Latvia and a better tomorrow.

Reply with Photo
The shy scientist Lars decides to publish a small ad in order to find a girlfriend. From the 218 replies, he selects Brigita, an attractive Latvian woman and invites her to Stockholm. But what actually happens after Brigita's arrival is far more complicated than Lars could ever have imagined.

My Family Tree
A unique, engaging film that combines documentary footage with narrative cinema to tell the story of four generations of a Latvian family. Sixteen year-old student Jānis has been given an interesting homework assignment – to draw his family tree and explain it. The story of his family begins with his great-great-grandfather who burned down the manors of German landowners during the 1905 revolution. My Family Tree takes us on a journey to various countries and political regimes, showing Jānis’ ancestors to be people of diverse fates and life ...

Riga's Lilac
Everyone has their own emotional overwhelm regarding a bad smell. Lizete, an amateur interviewer, is eager to record the moments when it is revealed. Dealing with the topic of bad odour's influences on society, this is an animated short film for adults in the inquiring style of a documentary. The director continues to work on tragi-comic stories about our natural awkwardness while finding ourselves.

Pigtail and Mr. Sleeplessness
Pigtail loves the winter holidays, but this year, shortly before Christmas, Brother comes into the world, turning everything upside down. Grandmother arrives from the countryside, because Pigtail’s parents no longer have time to take her skating, but Pigtail and her best friend, Mr. Sleeplessness, don’t like the new order. They come up with a plan – to send Brother and Grandmother to the Moon, in a bid to reclaim parental attention.

Paradise 89
Summer, 1989. City girls, Paula and Laura, spend their summer holidays in a small town with their cousins, Maija and Linda. Four girls, left unattended, enjoy freedom, imitate the life of adults, plunge into reckless adventures and get into trouble. Based on true events, nine-year-old Paula’s story of growing up is set against the background of time when Latvia made her first steps towards independence.

Out
OUT is an odyssey about 50 year old family man Agoston wandering through East Europe. After loosing his lifelong job in a power plant of small Slovak village Agoston takes the shady but alluring opportunity to work as a welder in a shipyard in Latvia. The journey in hopes of a new job in reality turns into a accelerating whirlwind of absurd events of short encounters, newly found-and-lost-again friendships subtracting from Agoston all his possessions and everything he once believed to be his whole life. However Agoston doesn't give up his se...

Stones (Elements)
A man in a grey coat roams the city. He is interested in boys and men. Those good enough for him will get a green bag. Marija is home alone. She is the only woman to get a green bag. But the film does not end quite there.

The Hunt
After the lives of several people are tied into a intriguing knot upon meeting police officer Krasts one hot summer day, they’re all brought together again on a full moon winter night. Intrigue develops among a couple of lovers, Gints and Elga, three adventure-race participants with one woman, Renate, on their team, three generations of a family whose father, Karlis, died in a tragic hunting accident, Karlis’s daughter Aija, his former lover Livija, and a young girl hardened by life, who lives at a Christian home for expectant mothers. A det...