Film 'Woman Unknown', co-produced in Latvia, wins top prize at Venice Film Festival

VENICE - The Venice Film Festival's top prize - the Golden Lion - was awarded on Saturday to Danish director May el-Toukhy film "Woman Unknown", a co-production of the Danish and Swedish film studio Nordisk Film Production and Latvian film studio Nafta Films.

Danish actress Mathilde Arcel was awarded the festival’s Best Actress prize for her role in "Woman Unknown".

Most of the film - 25 out of 28 shooting days - was shot in Riga, while Nafta Films handled production in collaboration with Nordisk Film Production. The film’s co-producers are Madara Kalnina and Esko Rips; and other professionals from the Latvian film industry also worked on it; filming in Latvia was supported by the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the Riga City Council’s co-financing program, the Riga Film Fund.

The film centers on a young nanny and housemaid, Marie, portrayed by Arcel. She is preparing for her wedding to the house’s owner -a wealthy widower, Christian, who is older than Marie. However, the young woman harbors a shameful secret- during World War II, she had an intimate relationship with a German soldier. Now the past threatens to catch up with Maria, and in the postwar chaos, she is forced to do everything in her power to preserve her status as the new mistress of the house - just like thousands of other women who, in 1945, in the weeks leading up to and immediately following Denmark’s liberation, were hounded and publicly humiliated by their fellow citizens for having intimate relationships with German soldiers.

Co-producers Nafta Films is a film production company in the Baltic region operating in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The company employs 30 full-time staff members across all three Baltic countries, and the group’s annual revenue last year reached approximately EUR 12 million.