Ivars Seleckis

September 22, 1934

Latvian documentary filmmaker Ivars Seleckis (1934) is one of the founders of the legendary Riga school of poetic documentary film. Seleckis started his career in film in 1958 as assistant cameraman at the Riga Film Studio. In 1966, he graduated from the Moscow Film Institute as a professional cinematographer and made his debut as a documentary director in 1968. A large part of Ivars Seleckis’ filmography belongs to the canon of Latvian film history, including his Crossroad Street (1988), winner of three of the world’s most prestigious documentary awards. Now in his eighties, Seleckis is still busy making new films ‒ despite having received the Lifetime Contribution Award of Lielais Kristaps National Film Festival as he was marking his 80th birthday.