Burlaks

Director's note

I grew up around men like Miervaldis. In some ways, I have been Miervaldis myself. In the Latvian countryside, stagnation is rarely dramatic. It is quiet: a man can spend his life reading about heroes while his own life slowly rusts, like the old Soviet machinery around him. The Burlaks is a film about this paralysis – and about what it takes to finally start moving.

The word "burlaks" carries two meanings: a barge hauler, doing brutally hard and honest work, and, in modern Latvian, a robber or hooligan. My characters exist somewhere between these meanings. They are flawed, careless and often ridiculous, but I never want the audience to look down on them.

That is why this story has to be a comedy. In rural Latvia, people joke about their own misfortunes because taking them entirely seriously would sometimes be too heavy to bear. The humour does not soften the pain; it reveals it. Everyone in this film is missing something, yet they continue to work, drink, compete, love and somehow show up for life.

Visually, I want to combine two worlds without drawing a line between them: the real mud, broken farmhouses and sawmills of rural Latvia, and a fairy tale populated by devils, angels, wild horses and other impossible creatures. Everything magical will be filmed with the same seriousness as everyday reality.

Rural Latvia, like much of rural Europe, is slowly emptying. Rather than make an "issue film" about it, I want to ask: what if the old gods never left? What if someone still cared enough to make a bet on one lazy, unremarkable man?

The Burlaks is a big-hearted, rough-edged fable about discovering that even a life that feels pointless and stuck may still be a story in progress. You just have to get up and start pulling.

Screenwriter's note

The Burlaks grew out of a world I know well: rural Latvia and the men who can spend years waiting for something to happen while life quietly passes them by. Miervaldis is not a conventional hero. He is passive, careless and stuck, yet this is exactly why I wanted to write about him. His journey begins not with ambition, but with the absence of it.
The title reflects the contradiction at the heart of the story. "Burlaks" can mean a barge hauler – a man performing brutally hard, honest work – but in modern Latvian it can also mean a robber or hooligan. The characters in the screenplay live somewhere between these definitions. They are rough, flawed and sometimes absurd, but they are also capable of loyalty, work, love and change.
I chose comedy because it feels truthful to this world. These characters deal with hardship through humour. Their lives contain alcoholism, loneliness, absent fathers, ageing and loss, but I did not want these realities to turn the screenplay into a social drama. Humour allows the painful and the ridiculous to exist together, as they often do in life.
The screenplay gradually transforms Miervaldis's ordinary reality into a contemporary folk tale. The Devil, God, impossible landscapes and strange trials enter the story without replacing the everyday world. For Miervaldis, they simply become part of it. His journey is less about understanding what is happening to him than learning to act despite not understanding.
At its heart, The Burlaks is about a seemingly insignificant man discovering that his life is not finished. Against the background of a rural world that is slowly disappearing, I wanted to write a rough, funny and affectionate fable about the possibility of progress and change.
Even when life appears completely stuck, the story may still be in progress. Sometimes you simply have to get up and start pulling.

Biography

Dace Siatkovska (1980) is a producer with more than ten years of experience working as a film and commercial producer, producing documentary and fiction films. Her films include Baltic Tribes (2018) by Raitis and Lauris Ābele, and Neon Spring (2022) by Matīss Kaža. Most recently, she produced Sisters (2022) by Linda Olte which won 2 awards at the Warsaw Film Festival and multiple awards at other international film festivals. Arizona Joe will be her first TV series as a producer.

Producer's note

We are delighted to collaborate with the talented young director Gatis Ungurs, who has established himself with a distinctive and original style in Latvian cinema. His previous short films, Plenči and Ludis, feature an absurd and eccentric aesthetic that vividly captures the essence of Latvia's rural environment. Given Gatis's own rural background, we are confident that his debut feature, The Burlaks, will effectively combine his unique authorial vision with commercial potential.

As a comedy exploring the universally relatable struggle with laziness, The Burlaks promises to resonate with audiences worldwide. The film is bilingual, with characters interacting in broken English or Georgian, highlighting that words often carry little weight in their interactions. This approach enhances the film's universal appeal, comedic charm and co-production potential.

The film was shot in the beautiful and magical landscapes of Georgia, in collaboration with Georgian co-producer Half Alien Films.
Currently, we are in the early post-production stage and are looking for a potential third co-production partner for post-production, gap financing, sales agents, distributors and festival partners.

Profile

A dynamic production company based in the Baltics, fostering international collaboration across feature films, TV series and animation.
We are passionate about nurturing new voices and aim to bridge emerging talent with experienced professionals, cultivating fresh, bold and impactful storytelling.