Cannes Film Festival 2026 | Jerusalem Film Festival 2026 | Cinematik International Film Festiva 2026
Set in Latvia in 1964, the film follows Ulya, a teenage girl from an Old Believer family who grows up on a remote farm. Nearly two metres tall, she struggles to fit in, and her family worries about her future. When basketball coaches see her class photograph, they take her to Riga to join a well-known team. Ulya trains hard but soon realises that basketball may not give her the normal life she wants. She returns home, only to find that people there also judge her by her height. Ulya must learn to accept herself and decide whether to hide or pursue her dream of becoming a world-class basketball player.
Born in Riga in 1971, Viesturs Kairišs graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture. His theatre productions toured international festivals. His opera debut, Eugene Onegin, won Latvia’s Grand Music Award (1999), and The Magic Flute was screened at the Venice Biennale.
B-Rated International
