Education

2000 sept. Baltic Media Centre co-production course in Bornholm, Denmark
1996 – 2000 Latvian Academy of Culture,
graduated as Bachelor of Art in a speciality of TV director
1984 – 1986 Liepaja Secondary School of Applid art
1972 – 1984 Liepaja Secondary School No 5

Professional experience

2000 - 2010 director and producer at production company
SUBJEKTIV FILMA www.35mm.lv
1998– 1999 film director with the independent production companies F.O.R.M.A. and RIJA
1990 – 1998 film director and cameraman at the independent film studio KAUPO FILMA
1996 – 1997 working on different TV programmes
1989 – 1990 worked at the RigaFilm Studio
1986 – 1988 artist-designer at the advrtizing agency of Liepaja Trade Department

Filmography of Askolds Saulitis:

Finished:

Our land and liberty. Bermontiad, documentary, 90 min, 2009
Story of the events of the October and November of 1919 in Riga, when German-Russian reactionary armed forces that were five times as big attacked the newly-proclaimed Republic of Latvia. It will be a story about the events at the river Daugava that decided the fate not only for the Baltic countries but for all modern Europe.

Debt to Afghanistan, documentary, 58 min, 2008
The politologist Atis Lejins sets out on a risky trip to Afganistan to find a former mujahideen commandant, to return his heart’s debt for saving his life during the USSR invasion in the 80ies. At that time also young men from Latvia fought and died in Afganistan without the right to choose.
Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, in New York and the fall of the Taliban regime, Latvians are back to Afganistan – as part of NATO missions.

The Anatomy of National Holiday, documentary, 50 min, 2005. Film tracks behind the scenes how celebration of national holiday is prepared.

Keep Smiling!, documentary, 58 min, 2004. Story about four men who search forests for soldiers missing in action during World War 2.

The Spring of Youth, documentary, 58 min, 2002. A story on human passions hidden behind the seeming tranquillity of a small European town.  

The Red and the Brown, documentary, 53 min, 1999. Film about small country Latvia fighting a loosing battle between two violent forces during World War II.

Clara and Rubinstein, animation, 11 min, 1999. Short grotesque about family life in the end of 20^th century.

Tristan and Isolde, short feature, part of Baltic co-production feature, 1999. A legendary love story placed in the modern situation of the 20^th century.

 In production (in collaboration with Latvia State Television):

The Debt to Afghanistan, documentary, 52 min, 2006 (planned). Film will highlight two great turns of history that have shaken the usual world-order and left dramatic consequences: the defeat of USSR in Afghanistan and the attack to USA by Osama bin Laden in 11^th of September 2001.

Beyound the Sidelines, documentary, directed by Janis Ponemeckis, 2006 (planned). Film about legendary Latvian and Lithuanian basketball personalities.

 

Awards

Director A.Saulitis twice received National Prizes for the Best Documentary film.

Our documentary film Keep Smiling! has received following awards:

National Award for the Best Script,

National Award for the Best Music,

Spectators Prize for Best Film in 2003; Special Prize of President of Russia in the documentary film festival ROSSIJA;

INTERFILM PRIZE of international ecumenical jury of film festival Arsenals; Nomination for Russia Film Academy Award (NIKA Award) for the Best Film

Keep Smiling! took part in IDFA 2004 in Reflecting Images section.

 Keep Smiling! has participated in the biggest number of festivals in 2004 comparing to other Latvian documentary films.

 What does press say:

A.Saulitis was nominated as the Person of the Year in the field of culture by the most important morning newspapers in Latvia 1999, 2001 and 2003. In 2003 it was the film Keep Smiling! which brought him the nomination because of “an eye-catching manner that bonds peculiar male games with the difficult questions of Latvia’s past, and in a paradoxically tragic way demonstrates the metaphor “earth’s treasures” in cinematographically black-and-white, compacted language”.

 ? “…Keep Smiling! plays with the audience, being stylistically close to the wave of documentary filmmaking represented by American Michael Moore, with his provocative but inspiring films.”

/ Daira Abolina, Film Critic, Film News from Latvia /

 ? „...Probably this film will make film critics contemplate on new tendencies in the Latvian documentary filmmaking.”

/ Dita Rietuma, Film Critic, Daily Diena /

 ? „...The hour has come! Our New Wave comes crashing!”

/ Agris Redovics, Film Critic, Daily Diena /

 

 

Photo by
Olegs Kotovics