Neon Spring

Neon Spring (Neona pavasaris), 2022

(102 min, coming-of-age/drama)

Laine is a college girl from a bland middle-class suburb in Latvia. As Laine’s father distances himself from his crumbling marriage and his family, Laine is unable to cope with the separation and discovers the edgy Riga party scene, where she falls in love with seasoned raver Gunda. Going from rave to rave, the girls journey into a drug-fuelled underworld of anarchy, freedom and exploration.

CREDITS
Main Cast
Marija Luīze Meļķe, Grēta Trušiņa, Gerds Lapoška, Agnese Rukšāne, Jānis Skutelis, Timotejs Pelle Kalniņš
Director
Matīss Kaža
Producers
Matīss Kaža, Dace Siatkovska, Una Celma
Writers
Marija Luīze Meļķe, Matīss Kaža
Cinematographer
Aleksandrs Grebņevs, LGC
Composer
Toms Auniņš
Editor
Paula Popmane
Sound Designer
Aleksandrs Vaicahovskis
Produced by
Trickster Pictures / Deep Sea Studios / Fenixfilm
FESTIVALS
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2022 (World Premiere)
Helsinki International Film Festival "Love & Anarchy" 2022
International Film Festival of India, Goa 2022
London Baltic Film Festival 2022
International Human Rights Film Festival - this human world 2022
Festival del Cinema Europeo 2022
b2 Biennale 2022
AWARDS
Works in Progress Award
Tallinn Baltic Event 2020
NOMINATIONS
Latvian National Film Awards "Lielais Kristaps" 2023
5 nominations
STILLS

Matīss Kaža

Matīss Kaža is an Academy Award-winning Latvian producer, director and writer. He is best known for co-writing and producing the animated feature film “Flow” (2024) by Gints Zilbalodis, which won the first ever Golden Globe and Oscar for an independent animated feature. Recent producing credits include “Sisters" (2022, Warsaw Film Festival 1+2 Competition Winner) by Linda Olte, "Drowning Dry" (2024, two awards in the Locarno Main Competition) by Laurynas Bareiša. Matīss has directed and written for live action, documentary and the theatre, including “Neon Spring” (2022, Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival) and critically acclaimed performances at the Latvian National Theatre, like “The Soft Power” (2023) and “The National Network” (2025). He teaches film directing at the Latvian Academy of Culture.

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