Latvia

Latvia has a 20% cash rebate for features and TV productions with filming activity centred on capital Riga. The Riga Film Fund incentivises international shoots to film in the city with an uplift of 5% to 25%. 

Latvia is a member of the European Union, a participant in the Schengen Agreement and uses the euro as its currency.

Shooting in Latvia has a reputation for being cost-effective and efficient and productions to access support include Dutch series Heirs Of The Night, Swedish series Blinded, Russian feature Tsoi (working title) and Hungarian film Natural Light. Latvia offers historic buildings including the 18th-century Rundale Palace, and a large number of manor houses. Riga is all about art nouveau, quirky 19th-century wooden buildings and a scattering of Soviet-era architecture. 

Latvia can comfortably accommodate around four medium-scale productions at any one time and often calls on neighbouring crews and professionals to supplement the workforce. Being able to offer a collaborative recruitment policy to expand crews means Latvia can source extra filmmaking and technical services with experience in international projects. Most crew speak English and Russian.

Riga International Airport is well-connected internationally and is just 10 kilometres from the city centre. Despite the lack of motorways, some 500 kilometres of untouched beaches, dozens of ancient Crusader castles and scores of manor houses are all within a couple of hours’ drive on the country’s web of A-roads. Riga has the largest number of free wifi hotspots per kilometre in Europe, which can be accessed in most hotels, cafés and taxis.

First person to contact

Dace Lesinska, Riga City Council dace.lesinska@riga.lv