There are over a thousand so-called “children of the system” in Latvia, who grow up without parents in orphanages or reception centres run by the government. Every year, over a hundred of them are adopted by foreigners, but the spaces they leave behind are soon filled by children hailing from dysfunctional families or violent environments. Even the most fortunate cases – children who are lucky enough to be adopted and to move to a foreign country – don’t often experience the joyful journeys you might imagine. It’s on this premise that Sisters [+lire aussi :
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The film follows in the footsteps of Anastasija and Diana (Emma Skirmante and Gerda Aljēna), two sisters who live in an orphanage and learn that an American family are intent on adopting them. Diana can’t wait to move to the USA, but Anastasia is less keen. When Alla (Iveta Pole), their biological mother who they’ve been taken away from, reappears in their lives, Anastasia does everything possible to build a relationship with her. But Alla has other plans.

As the director explains, “My film is based on several years of research which I carried out in Latvian orphanages where I worked with the smaller children and became a temporary foster parent to them, myself. In my opinion, it’s incredibly important that these children’s voices are conveyed in the most honest and truthful way possible, even if it means exposing the darkest and most unpleasant sides of my country’s orphanage system. While we were producing our film, foreign adoptions became illegal in Latvia, and we’re looking to reopen debate on this topic”. The film will be released in Latvian cinemas in October.

The creative path walked by Linda Olte has revolved around social issues, and families and children in particular. The documentary My Father the Banker (2015) won her a National Film Award for Best Editing. After many years spent working on a variety of successful programmes, series and short films for Latvian TV, Sisters is Olte’s first feature film. The director is currently developing her next feature The Child.

Sisters is co-produced by Trickster Pictures, Fenixfilm and Deep Sea Studios in Riga and by Albolina Film in Bolzano. Shooting wrapped in the first week of June 2021 in the Alto Adige region. The film won the Italian-Baltic Development Award - introduced only three years ago and sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Estonian Film Institute and the National Film Centre of Latvia - while in the development phase. The prize was announced in 2020, during Trieste’s When East Meets West co-production forum. The screenplay, meanwhile, was partly developed during a workshop organised by the Sources 2 initiative. In 2020, the team presented the project at the co-production market for European children’s films, Kids Kino Industry, in Warsaw. The film won the Screen International Buyer's Choice Award at the MIA Market 2021 in Rome, Italy. Primary funding for Sisters was put forward by the National Film Centre of Latvia, Alto Adige Film Fund and Commission, Eurimages and the Italian Tax Credit system. The film is sold internationally by True Colours.

An exclusive trailer of the film can be seen below: