The nominees for Latvia’s 2026 Lielais Kristaps National Film Award were unveiled on 8 January at a press conference held in the Riga Congress Centre, with 36 films shortlisted from a total of 85 submissions across eight film categories and 17 professional awards.

Leading this year’s nominations is Lotus [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película], the debut feature by Signe Birkova, which received 16 nominations, confirming its status as the most prominent title of the year within the Latvian awards landscape. The film is followed by Escape Net by Dzintars Dreibergs, with 13 nominations, while Youth Eternal by Armands Začs and Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart by Alise Zariņa each garnered ten.

In animation, Raitis and Lauris Ābele’s Latvian Oscar hopeful Dog of God [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Lauris y Raitis Ābele
ficha de la película] collected eight nominations, while the documentary frontrunner is Krista Burāne’s feature, All Birds Sing Beautifully, which earned seven nominations. All nominated films will now be assessed by an international jury, whose members will be announced at a later date.

The event will also see the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to veteran stuntman Uldis Jānis Veispals, recognising his contribution to Latvian and international screen production over the past five decades.

Speaking at the press conference, representatives from the Latvian film sector highlighted the increasing stylistic range and international reach of recent national production. According to Uģis Olte, an expert on the feature film and animation selection committee, the 2026 showcase reflects a notable expansion in both thematic ambition and formal experimentation, ranging from mainstream-oriented historical narratives to introspective generational portraits and formally daring debuts. He also underlined the growing visibility of Latvian professionals within minority co-productions, where key creative and technical roles - from cinematography and editing to art direction - are increasingly based in Latvia and exported abroad.

A particularly strong showing by student films was also emphasised this year, with several titles competing directly alongside professional works. One student short, Aivars Šaicāns and Jēkabs Okonovs’ Slush, was permitted entry to the main competition for Best Short Film, signalling what organisers described as an unusually high level of emerging talent within the national ecosystem.

The upcoming edition of the festival will introduce two new awards: Best Film and Best Short Film. The former brings together feature-length fiction, documentary and animation in a single competition, a move intended to reflect the diversity of contemporary Latvian cinema while intensifying competition across formats. The latter similarly allows short films of different forms to compete on equal footing, departing from strictly segmented genre categories.

From the documentary selection perspective, committee expert Kaspars Braķis stressed that the shortlisted titles were chosen to offer a broad overview of Latvia’s current non-fiction scene, encompassing different authorial voices, stylistic approaches and target audiences. While this diversity does hinder direct comparison, it’s expected to make the jury process more revealing, especially since documentaries will also contend for the Best Short Film award alongside fiction and animation.

In total, the submitted titles comprise six fiction features, five multi-episode works, eleven minority co-productions, fourteen fiction shorts, eleven documentary features, eight short documentaries, three animated films (including one feature-length) and 27 student productions. Pre-selection was carried out by two expert committees - one for fiction and animation, and another for documentaries - composed of filmmakers, cinematographers, critics and researchers, ensuring an independent evaluation process.

The Lielais Kristaps Award will take place on 1 March in the Riga Congress Centre. The prizes are organised by the Latvian Cinematographers’ Union, with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia and the country’s Ministry of Culture.

The full list of this year’s nominees:

Best Film
Beyond the Deep – Kārlis Bardelis, Artūrs Valdmanis (Latvia)
Dog of God [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Lauris y Raitis Ābele
ficha de la película] – Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele (Latvia/USA)
Frankenstein 2.0 – Dāvis Sīmanis (Latvia/Czech Republic)
Lotus [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] – Signe Birkova (Latvia/Lithuania)
Art Born in Agony – Elizabete Gricmane, Ramunė Rakauskaitė (Latvia/Lithuania)
Youth Eternal – Armands Začs (Latvia)
Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart – Alise Zariņa (Latvia)
Escape Net – Dzintars Dreibergs (Latvia)
Red Code Blue – Oskars Rupenheits (Latvia)
All Birds Sing Beautifully – Krista Burāne (Latvia)
The Last Will – Jānis Ābele (Latvia)

Best Fiction Feature
Lotus – Signe Birkova
Youth Eternal – Armands Začs
Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart – Alise Zariņa
Escape Net – Dzintars Dreibergs
Red Code Blue – Oskars Rupenheits

Best Documentary Feature
Beyond the Deep – Kārlis Bardelis, Artūrs Valdmanis
Frankenstein 2.0 – Dāvis Sīmanis
Art Born in Agony – Elizabete Gricmane, Ramunė Rakauskaitė
All Birds Sing Beautifully – Krista Burāne
The Last Will – Jānis Ābele

Best Debut Film
The Horseman’s Voice – Iveta Auniņa (Latvia)
Culture Palace – Rūdolfs Gediņš, Ance Strazda (Latvia)
Cleanliness – Andrejs Brīvulis (Latvia)

Best Series
The Collective (Season 2) – Juris Kursietis, Rūdolfs Gediņš, Ance Strazda, Artūrs Zeps, Roberts Kuļenko, Jānis Ābele (Latvia)
The Uninvited Guests (Season 3) – Vlads Kovaļovs (Latvia)
Slice of Paradise – Kārlis Lesiņš (Latvia)

Best Minority Co-Production
Detective von Fock (Season 2) – Arun Tamm (Estonia/Latvia/Italy)
Lioness [+lee también:
tráiler
ficha de la película] – Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo (Estonia/Latvia/Germany)
Redlight to Limelight – Bipuljit Basu (India/Finland/Latvia)
Solomamma [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Janicke Askevold
entrevista: Janicke Askevold
ficha de la película] – Janicke Askevold (Norway/Latvia/Lithuania/Finland)
Sacrum and Profanum in Pievėnai – Giedrė Beinoriūtė (Lithuania/Latvia)

Best Feature Film Director
Alise Zariņa – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Armands Začs – Youth Eternal
Dzintars Dreibergs – Escape Net
Oskars Rupenheits – Red Code Blue
Signe Birkova – Lotus

Best Documentary Film Director
Agita Cāne-Ķīle – The Organ at Night (Germany/Latvia)
Elizabete Gricmane, Ramunė Rakauskaitė – Art Born in Agony
Dāvis Sīmanis – Frankenstein 2.0
Krista Burāne – All Birds Sing Beautifully
Laila Pakalniņa – Scarecrows [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la película] (Latvia/Lithuania)

Best Animated Film Director
Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele – Dog of God
Andrejs Brīvulis – Cleanliness (Latvia, short film)
Anete Grīnberga – Aizmiršanas dārzā (Latvia, short film)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Agate Krista – Dog of God
Agnese Budovska – Escape Net
Ieva Segliņa – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Sabīne Tīkmane – Youth Eternal
Severija Janušauskaitė – Lotus

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jurģis Spulenieks – Dog of God
Kārlis Dzintars Zahovskis – Youth Eternal
Mārtiņš Kalita – Lotus
Raitis Stūrmanis – Red Code Blue
Vilis Daudziņš – Lotus

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Anna Putniņa – Parents’ Meeting (Latvia)
Evelīna Otto – Escape Net
Indra Briķe – Lotus
Leonarda Ķestere – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Rēzija Kalniņa – Lotus

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Artūrs Skrastiņš – Escape Net
Artūrs Smoļjaņinovs – Escape Net
Emīls Ralfs Zagorskis – Youth Eternal
Gatis Maliks – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Kristians Kareļins – Dog of God

Best Screenwriter
Alise Zariņa – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Ivo Briedis, Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele, Harijs Grundmanis – Dog of God
Jānis Joņevs – The Last Will
Krista Burāne – All Birds Sing Beautifully
Signe Birkova – Lotus

Best Feature Film Cinematographer
Aleksandrs Vasks – Dust Doomsday
Juris Pīlēns – Red Code Blue
Mārtiņš Jurevics – Lotus
Mārtiņš Jurevics – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Valdis Celmiņš – Escape Net

Best Documentary Film Cinematographer
Jānis Šēnbergs, Valdis Celmiņš – North South Man Woman [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la película] (Norway/Latvia/South Korea)
Edgars Bite – The Organ at Night
Māris Maskalāns – Scarecrows
Mārtiņš Jansons – All Birds Sing Beautifully
Mārtiņš Jansons, Povilas Baltinas, Valdis Celmiņš – Art Born in Agony

Best Animated Film Artist/Designer
Andrejs Brīvulis – Cleanliness
Anete Grīnberga – Aizmiršanas dārzā
Harijs Grundmanis – Dog of God

Best Editor
Andris Grants – Lotus
Armands Začs – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Jēkabs Okonovs – Slush
Gatis Belogrudovs – Escape Net
Krista Burāne, Paula Ločmele – All Birds Sing Beautifully

Best Production Designer
Aivars Žukovskis – Youth Eternal
Juris Žukovskis – Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart
Mārtiņš Straupe – Lotus
Laura Dišlere – Lioness
Toms Jansons – Red Code Blue

Best Costume Designer
Sīglinde Mihailera, Valters Granuco & Jūlija Volkinšteine – Detective von Fock (Season 2)
Ance Beinaroviča – Red Code Blue
Berta Vilipsone-Ieleja – Youth Eternal
Jurate Silakaktiņa – Lotus
Sandra Sila – Escape Net

Best Makeup Artist
Aija Beata Rjabovska – Escape Net
Elīna Gaugere – Red Code Blue
Ilze Trumpe – Lotus
Santa Sandule – Youth Eternal
Zane Žilinska – Detective von Fock (Season 2)

Best Composer
Lauris Ābele – Dog of God
Lolita Ritmanis – Escape Net
Pauļus Kilbausks, Justs Štāls – Lotus
Pauļus Kilbausks, Vigints Kisevičs – Scarecrows
Toms Auniņš – Youth Eternal

Best Sound Director
Aleksandrs Vaicahovskis – Escape Net
Edvards Broders – All Birds Sing Beautifully
Jons Maksvītis – Scarecrows
Pēteris Pāss – Art Born in Agony
Sauļus Urbanavičs – Lotus

Best Short Film
Iron – Vitaly Mansky (Latvia/Czech Republic/Ukraine)
Grestomathy – Betija Zvejniece (Latvia)
Culture Palace – Rūdolfs Gediņš, Ance Strazda (Latvia)
Dust Doomsday – Alvīna Jansen (Latvia)
Cleanliness – Andrejs Brīvulis (Latvia)
Slush – Aivars Šaicāns, Jēkabs Okonovs (Latvia)

Best Student Film
In the Garden of Forgetfulness – Anete Grīnberga (Latvia)
Bardo – Rasa Droiska (Latvia)
Harmony of Silence – Mārtiņš Jansons (Latvia)
My First Funeral – Līva Klepere (Latvia)
No No Place Hotel – Reinis Ūbelis (Latvia)
The Observer – Arnis Kalniņš (Latvia)