On March 1, the Latvian National Film Awards, the “Lielais Kristaps,” were presented in Riga.
Among the evening’s major winners—alongside the current Latvian box office hit Escape Net—was the feature-length animated film Dog of God (Latvia, USA). Its creators, Raitis Ābele and Lauris Ābele, received the award for Best Animation Directors, while co-writer Harijs Grundmanis was honored with an additional prize.The gothic fantasy parable about power struggles, set in 17th-century Latvia, screened in the “Midnight Madness”section of the FilmFestival Cottbus in 2025.
The 1990s neo-noir police thriller Red Code Blue by Oskars Rupenheits won the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Raitis Stūrmanis), Best Production Design (Toms Jansons), and Best Make-Up (Elīna Gaugere).
The film—an intense and authentic journey into the turbulent years following Latvia’s regained independence, marked by shifting power structures and turf wars between mafia gangs and morally ambiguous police forces—will also be screened at the FilmFestival Cottbus 2026 (3–8 November).
The Lielais Kristaps (Latvian for “The Great Christopher”) were first awarded in 1977; since 2014, the ceremony has taken place annually.