ULDIS CEKULIS, Producer / Cinematographer, Latvia

Uldis Cekulis created VFS FILMS, an independent production company, almost 20 years ago and later won the International Trailblazer prize at MIPDOC in Cannes, which recognizes the best documentary makers. The EURODOC training programme and the Institute of Documentary Film initiatives has played a big role in facilitating his career as a filmmaker. He has worked as a producer and sometimes as a cinematographer on almost fifty creative documentaries and author-driven prime time TV projects. He is also a member of the European Documentary Network and European Film Academy. He has co-produced documentaries with production companies in Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Georgia. As producer, most of his films such as “Roof on the Moonway”, “Theodore”, “The Deconstruction of an Artist”, “Double Aliens”, “Liberation Day” and others have travelled and received awards around the world. “Dreamland”, directed by Laila Pakalnina and produced by Cekulis, also received a nomination for the European Film Academy Documentary Award 2005. “Ukrainian Sheriffs”, directed by Roman Bondarchuk, won the IDFA Special Jury Award in 2015 and was then selected as the official Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards in 2016. Cekulis tutors at workshops across Europe and the Caucasus. He is currently working on five feature documentary co-productions and two author driven TV lifestyle productions.