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Ulja
Viesturs Kairišs · Latvia, Lithuania, Estonija, Poland, 2026 · 102 min
The story of an unusually tall teenager from a traditional, deeply religious Old Believer family whose life changes overnight when she enters the world of professional basketball. Soviet Union, Latvia, 1964. Ulya grows up feeling isolated on a remote rural farm until her unusual height is noticed by basketball scouts. She is quickly brought to the capital to join a renowned women's basketball team. As she begins training hard, Ulya soon realises that both her native community and the basketball world view her merely as an object and a political tool.
"The filming process felt like a constantly interrupted dream. We searched for poetic solutions to reflect Ulya's inner world, trying to enter her mind, her thoughts, her sensations - to be as subjective as possible. Paradoxically, the story evolved in the opposite direction: from something deeply personal into something universal. Ulya's story became a story about all of us." (Viesturs Kairišs)
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