Filma "Uļa"

Meeting with producer Guntis Trekteris.

Admission 3 euros.

“Uļa” 2026

103 min

Director - Viesturs Kairišs

The film “Uļa” is a visually and emotionally powerful story about identity, growing up, and the search for belonging. Its action takes place in Latvia in the late 1960s. Uļa is an Old Believer teenager whose height is approaching two meters – when her class photograph falls into the hands of basketball coaches, Uļa is taken to Riga to join a famous basketball team. Struggling with her height and identity, she trains diligently, but soon realizes that she must make one of the most important choices in her life – to hide or to become the best basketball player in the world.

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Uļa stands out for something unusual — her height is approaching two meters, and living on a remote rural farm, she feels like a stranger even in her own family, which worries whether such a tall girl even has a place in the world. When a class photograph of Uļa accidentally falls into the hands of basketball coaches, her life turns upside down: Uļa is taken to Riga and included in a legendary basketball team.

Between training and competitions, Uļa tries to understand who she is — an athlete, a country girl, or simply a person who wants to live a normal life. However, both the village people and the sports world see her only as a “giant” whose value lies in centimeters. Having run away back home, Uļa realizes: the real challenge is not basketball, but her identity and courage to be herself.

Actors:

Kārlis Arnolds Avots, Čulpana Hamatova, Aleksas Kazanavičius, Arturs Krūzkops, Kaspars Dumburs, Alise Dzene, Dārta Cīrule, Madara Viļčuka, Šamils Hamatovs

Director - Viesturs Kairišs

Screenwriters - Kārlis Arnolds Avots, Livia Ulman, Andris Feldmanis

Cinematographer - Wojciech Staroń (PSC)

Production designer - Ieva Jurjāne

Makeup artist - Liisi Põllumaa

Costume designer - Rūta Lečaitė

Editor - Armands Začs

Music - PUULUUP