30/09/2010

Maris Martinsons’ second feature film Hong Kong Confidential (Amaya) has been selected as Latvia’s entry for this year’s Academy Awards nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

This is the second time Martinsons has been an Oscar candidate, but last time he represented Lithuania with his debut feature Loss, submitted in 2008.

Hong Kong Confidential takes place over one week in Hong Kong and follows six characters whose lives are all connected in one way or another. When Amaya (played by multiple award-winning Japanese actress Kaori Momoi) meets a charming Englishman, their encounter dramatically changes Amaya's perception of her cultural and own identity.

The romantic drama was produced by Linda Krukle and Martinsons for Latvia-based Krukfilms, in co-production with Chu Chen On from October Pictures, Hong Kong. Released theatrically in Latvia on September 14, the film was well received by Latvian critics and audiences alike. World sales are handled by House of Film in the US.

Krukle, who founded her company Krukfilms after producing Loss, told Cineuropa she is currently working on Martinsons’ newest film, Tempura, a road movie once again starring Kaori Momoi. The project scheduled to shoot in Spain and Portugal has been selected for the Tokyo Project Gathering co-production market affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival (October 25-28).