Set in a small Latvian town, The Bog explores the lingering shadows of the past, the fragility of memory and the secrets that communities choose to bury. When a body is discovered in a nearby bog, rumours quickly spread that the remains belong to a teenager who had mysteriously disappeared 30 years earlier. As the investigation unfolds, long-buried relationships and unresolved events from the early 1990s resurface, forcing the film’s protagonists to confront their memories and question what they believe happened.

Reinis Kalviņš and Estonian screenwriters Livia Ulman and Andris Feldmanis penned the script.

The ensemble of Latvian actors includes Kaspars Zvīgulis, Edgars Ozoliņš, Svetlana Stoļarova, Armands Berģis, Anda Reigase, Lauris Dzelzītis, Artis Drozdovs, Jānis Kirmuška and Māris Pūris. Spanish cinematographer Jimmy Gimferrer lensed the film.

“International audiences are increasingly drawn to distinctive genre cinema, and The Bog combines the suspense of a crime drama with a deeply human story about memory, responsibility and the persistence of the past. The film also explores the remarkable natural environment of peat bogs and the phenomenon of bog bodies - a subject that connects archaeology, anthropology and our understanding of history. This gives the story an unusual dimension: the landscape itself becomes a keeper of memory. We believe this combination of genre storytelling and a distinctive local setting gives The Bog strong potential to resonate with international audiences,” says producer Gints Grūbe.

Gints Grūbe and Inese Boka-Grūbe of Latvia’s Mistrus Media produced the film in coproduction with Verena Gräfe Hoft of Germany’s Junafilm and Aet Laigu of Estonia’s Meteoriit. Ilze Krūmiņliepa served as executive producer.

The film received support from the National Film Centre of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, German public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk, ARTE, the Estonian Film Institute, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Tartu Film Fund and Creative Europe - MEDIA.

The project was developed through LIM | Less is More and participated in Baltic Event. In 2025, it was also selected for European Work in Progress (EWIP), held in conjunction with FilmFest Hamburg.

The film will be released in Latvia on 23 October 2026, Gints Grūbe told FNE A sales agent is not yet attached.

Production Information:

Producer:
Mistrus Media (Latvia)
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Coproducers:
Junafilm (Germany)
Meteoriit (Estonia)

Credits:
Director: Reinis Kalviņš
Scriptwriters: Reinis Kalviņš, Livia Ulman, Andris Feldmanis
DoP: Jimmy Gimferrer
Costume designers: Noemi Lara Ströber, Berta Vilipsone
Make-up artist: Maija Gundare
Cast: Kaspars Zvīgulis, Edgars Ozoliņš, Svetlana Stoļarova, Armands Berģis, Anda Reigase, Lauris Dzelzītis, Artis Drozdovs, Jānis Kirmuška, Māris Pūris