More than 20 Latvian feature, documentary and animation films, as well as work by Estonian and Lithuanian directors, will be showcased Oct. 18-23 during the third annual Baltic Film Festival Berlin.

In all, more than 40 films will be screened during the festival, which was initiated by Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit. This year, the festival is focused on Latvia, with special attention devoted to director, cameraman, screenwriter and producer Herz Frank. Born in 1926, Frank studied law and worked in journalism before turing to film.

Opening the festival is Laila Pakalniņa’s 2006 film Ķīlnieks (The Hostage) and Frank’s 1978 short, Vecāks par 10 minūtēm (Ten Minutes Older). The program begins at 19:00 hours Oct. 18 in the festival venue, Kino Babylon Berlin Mitte, Rosa-Luxembourg-Strasse 30, Berlin. Speaking during the opening will be both directors; Latvia’s ambassador to Germany, Mārtiņš Virsis; and Ieva Pitruka, festival coordinator for the National Film Center of Latvia.

Also on the festival program are such Latvian films as Monotonija by director Juris Poškus. The film just won the prize for best feature film in the Lielais Kristaps competition, Latvia’s equivalent of the Oscars.

For further information on the festival, visit www.balticfilmfestivalberlin.net.

A work group studying how dual citizenship could be used to foster closer ties with the Latvian homeland should broaden its discussions to include World War II refugees and Soviet-era deportees, says Oskars Kastēns, special assignments minister for social integration affairs.

Kastēns announced Oct. 15 that he has sent a letter to Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis asking that the work group’s duties be expanded. The letter also asks that membership in the work group be increased to include representatives from the World Federation of Free Latvians and the state Office of the Ombudsman.

The work group was formed after Kastēns’ office in August submitted a report to the Cabinet of Ministers outlining measures that could be taken to encourage repatriation to Latvia among the tens of thousands of citizens who in recent years have moved to Ireland, the United Kingdom and other Western European countries. One suggestion was that children born to Latvian parents abroad be allowed to hold dual citizenship, which under current law is not possible.

“However,” Kastēns said in his letter to Kalvītis, “I consider that it is necessary to deal not just with questions related to children born abroad, but also with refugees and deportees from the time of Latvia’s occupation, as well as with children who have been left without the care of parents.”

The World Federation of Free Latvians completely supports Kastēns’ recommendation, Jānis Andersons, head of the federation’s office in Rīga, told Latvians Online in an e-mail. Many political refugees and their descendants were unable to register for Latvian citizenship before July 1995, when the window closed on a Latvian government offer of dual citizenship for exiles.

A total of 30,793 Latvian citizens hold dual citizenship, according to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. Of those, 12,473 are in the United States, 4,283 in Australia, 3,788 in Canada, 2,759 in the United Kingdom and 1,615 in Germany.

In a Sept. 27 letter to the work group, the World Federation of Free Latvians urged consideration for political refugees and deportees—and their descendants—who left Latvia during the Nazi and Soviet occupations between June 17, 1940, and May 4, 1990. The first date is when the Soviet Union entered Latvia and the latter date is when the Latvian Supreme Soviet declared the restoration of the country’s independence.

The federation also argued for allowing dual citizenship for Latvian descendants in Brazil who never had Latvian citizenship because their forebears emigrated before Latvia declared independence in 1918.

The integration minister’s work group has until Dec. 10 to submit its recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Radisson SAS Daugava Hotel and the Grand Palace Hotel, both in Rīga, have been named Latvia’s leading hotels in this year’s World Travel Awards.

The awards were announced Oct. 9 during a ceremony in England. Winners were determined by a vote of travel agents in more than 190 countries.

The Radisson, situated along the Daugava River across from Old Rīga, was named Latvia’s leading business hotel. Also nominated in the category were Hotel Bergs, the OK Park Hotel, the Reval Hotel Rīdzene and Rocco Forte’s Hotel de Rome.

The Grand Palace Hotel, located on Pils Street on the edge of the Old City, was named Latvia’s leading hotel. Also nominated were Ainavas, the Baltic Beach Hotel, the Grand Palace Hotel, the Radisson SAS Daugava Hotel, the Reval Hotel Rīdzene, the Reval Hotel Latvija and Rocco Forte’s Hotel de Rome.