Soviet Union, Latvia, 1964. Ulya grows up feeling isolated on a remote rural farm until her unusual height is noticed by basketball scouts. She is quickly brought to the capital to join a renowned women’s basketball team. As she begins training hard, Ulya soon realises that both her native community and the basketball world view her merely as an object and a political tool.
“The filming process felt like a constantly interrupted dream. We searched for poetic solutions to reflect Ulya’s inner world, trying to enter her mind, her thoughts, her sensations – to be as subjective as possible. Paradoxically, the story evolved in the opposite direction: from something deeply personal into something universal. Ulya’s story became a story about all of us.” (Viesturs Kairišs)
Viesturs Kairišs
Latvian film and theatre director who also frequently directs opera productions in Riga, Cologne and Berlin. He has directed four documentaries and six feature films, which have premiered at major international festivals, including Karlovy Vary, Tallinn and Cannes, where his latest film, Ulya, was presented in the Un Certain Regard section.