Folklore, Masks, and Winter Rituals | Latvian Myth BTS

‘Latvian Myth’ / ‘Latviešu Mīts’ documentary feature shoot during January 2025, exploring Ziemassvētki and elements of Latvia’s masking traditions.

Folk groups from across Latvia gathered with us in forests and rural landscapes covered in deep snow, carrying handmade masks, songs, instruments, and seasonal traditions shaped through generations of community practice and cultural exchange. Many of the masks were built from natural and everyday materials, reflecting regional identity, humour, folklore, and older understandings of the relationship between people, animals, spirits, and the seasonal cycle.

The masking traditions connected to Ziemassvētki often sit between ritual, celebration, transformation, protection, and play. Across different regions of Latvia, these practices have continued to evolve while still holding traces of older folk cosmologies and winter customs connected to the symbolic transition from darkness toward the return of light.

Throughout the filming process, the forests themselves became part of the atmosphere of the gathering. Fires, singing, movement, and processions through the snow created moments where folklore, theatre, memory, and seasonal ritual overlapped within the landscape.

For Latvian Myth, documenting these traditions became part of a wider exploration into how cultural practices continue to survive through participation, adaptation, and collective memory. Not as static historical artefacts, but as living traditions carried forward by the communities who continue to gather around them.

We’re deeply grateful to all the folk groups, singers, craftspeople, folklorists, and participants who joined us and opened these traditions to the film.

Production: @humancollective.agency @kultfilma
Directors: @conorgormanfilm @di.ana.gram
Producers: @ilzefalkovska @dartavv @tommyvaznelis
DOP: @jurgiskmins
1st AC: Kristaps Dzenis @dzenkristap
2nd AC: Elisa Matvejeva @xvdesire
Gaffer: Aleksejs Zariņš @sertytres
Sound Recordist: Aigars Endzelis @sealineaudio
Production Assistant: Roberts Beķers @robekers
Runners: Anna Tobija @anna_tobija @jasminasternberga
Equipment: @arkogints

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Видео Folklore, Masks, and Winter Rituals | Latvian Myth BTS канала humancollective.