21-08-2020

PRODUCTION: Aik Karapetian Shoots Latvian/Belgian Coproduction Samuel’s Travels

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    RIGA: Aik Karapetian started shooting his fourth feature film, the dark comedy Samuel’s Travels, on 8 August 2020. The film is produced by Gints Grūbe through Mistrus Media (Latvia) and coproduced by Xavier Rombaut through Polar Bear (Belgium).

    The film written by Aik Karapetian and Aleksander Radionov tells the story of a little piglet, that has saved the foreign visitor Sam from slavery at an Eastern European pig farm. During his adventures, Sam becomes the leader of a herd of pigs and guides them to freedom.

    “It is a story about the false and deceptive perception of events and people we meet during our lifetime. We go through ordeals in order to understand a simple truth, that if we want to be loved we must care for each other”, said Aik Karapetian.

    “This film is conceived as a dark comedy or a contemporary fairy tale, which due to the style and story meets the spirit of our era, that does not lack absurdity, stereotypes and misunderstandings”, adds producer Gints Grūbe.

    The production is supported with 400,000 EUR by the National Film Centre of Latvia and also by the Belgian Tax shelter. The total budget is 750,000 EUR. The script has been developed at Sources2 under the working title Pig’n’Pah.

    The cast includes actors from Belgium and Latvia: Kevin Janssens, Aigars Vilims, Juris Bartkevičs, Laura Siliņa, Normunds Griestiņš, and others. The shooting will take place in various locations in Latvia till 22 September 2020.

    The release is expected in the spring of 2021.

    Aik Karapetian has previously made the feature films People There / Cilvēki tur (2012), The Man in the Orange Jacket / M.O.Ž. (2014) and Firstborn / Pirmdzimtais (2017), all of them produced by Studija Lokomotīve, as well as the short film Riebums (2007). His films have been screened at various international film festivals (Karlovy Vary, Gothenburg, BFI London Film Festival, and others). He has received multiple nominations for the Latvian National Film Awards.

    Production Information:

    Producer:
    Mistrus Media (Latvia)
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Coproducer:
    Samuels Travels by Aik Karapetian shootingPolar Bear (Belgium)

    Credits:
    Director: Aik Karapetian
    Screenwriters: Aik Karapetian, Aleksander Radionov
    DoP: Jurģis Kmins
    Editor: Armands Začs
    Production designer: Jurģis Krāsons
    Costume designer: Liene Dobrāja
    Make-up artist: Maija Gundare
    Cast: Kevin Janssens, Aigars Vilims, Juris Bartkevičs, Laura Siliņa, Normunds Griestiņš