Ulya Becomes Latvia’s Top Grossing Film as Nation Nominates It for 2027 Oscar
The black-and-white biopic about basketball champion Uljana Semjonova has outperformed major Hollywood releases in its home market.
By Fatou Mitchell ·
Latvia is sending a black-and-white sports drama to the Academy Awards, a sharp departure from the animated feature that won the country its first Oscar in 2025. The Baltic nation has selected Ulya, directed by Viesturs Kairišs, as its official contender for the international best feature film category at the 2027 ceremony. The film stars Kārlis Arnolds Avots, a rising actor in his country, in the title role of legendary basketball player Uljana Semjonova.
The selection follows a trajectory that began when Kairišs and Avots collaborated on the 2022 film January. Kairišs recalled that Avots had long expressed a desire to portray Semjonova, initially conceptualizing the project as a stage play. The director recognized the cinematic potential immediately, noting that the story of a tall girl from an isolated rural community finding her way to professional sports in Riga resonated with him. He described the premise as a package with Avots, asserting that the casting was integral to the vision from the start.
Semjonova was a dominant force in Soviet basketball, winning the national championship and the European Champions Cup fifteen times each. She captured Olympic gold for the USSR in 1976 and 1980 and became the first non-American woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The film traces her journey from an Old Believer community in the countryside to the competitive world of elite sport, depicting the physical and social challenges she faced due to her height.
Ulya is a co-production involving Latvia, Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania. Triin Tramberg, the artistic director of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, described the film as evidence of the creative strength in the region. She stated that such collaborations allow small countries to pool resources and present ambitious projects to global audiences. The film is set to open the 30th edition of the PÖFF festival on Friday.
Commercially, the film has found a robust audience in its home market. Since its release earlier this year, it has recorded approximately 105,000 admissions in Latvian cinemas. Kairišs labeled the performance a real blockbuster, noting that the film has become the top-grossing Latvian production of 2026. It has outperformed international releases such as The Odyssey and Minions & Monsters in local box office rankings.
Currently, Ulya stands as the second most successful film of the year in Latvia, trailing only Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The director attributed this success to the film's subjective approach, which aims to depict the internal world of its protagonist. He suggested that the story appeals to a universal experience, touching on the concept of an inner individual that society often expects people to conceal. The production is being handled for North American distribution by New Mountain Films, while B-Rated International manages international sales.
The film world-premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. Kairišs, who previously sent The Chronicles of Melanie and January to the Oscars, expressed satisfaction with the international reception. He noted that despite the small budget typical of Latvian cinema, the screenings have generated strong responses. The film ends with a photograph of Semjonova and Avots, a nod to their personal connection in Riga before her death in January.
