Latvia · LBFF 2026

Ulya

Original title: Uļa

Ulya — film poster
Country
Latvia
Runtime
1h 42min
Director
Viesturs Kairišs
Director of Photography
Wojciech Staroń
Producer
Guntis Trekteris
Cast
Kārlis Arnolds Avots, Chulpan Khamatova, Aleksas Kazanavičius, Arturs Kruzkops, Kaspars Dumburs, Alise Dzene, Dārta Cīrule, Madara Vilčuka, Shamil Khamatov

1964, rural Soviet Latvia. Ulya's exceptional height and strength get her noticed by basketball scouts, and she is pulled from farm life into elite sport.

Shot in black and white, the film follows her uneasy passage between a body and a society that were never built to accommodate difference — and her search for a life, and a self, entirely her own.

Official Selection, Un Certain Regard — Festival de Cannes 2026.

Latvia's official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

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