A giant girl lives in a wild rural environment. When the modern world enters this isolated Russian Old Believer milieu, the girl is taken away and dragged into the world of professional sports. The aim does not differ much from that of a circus in the Middle Ages – to entertain audiences and exploit the limits of people’s mental and physical abilities. But the girl proves to have unbelievable willpower and athletic talent. She is able to adapt and triumph in this new world. This is the story of the famous basketball player Ulyana Semyonova.

The City on the River is a tragicomedy about the ultimate triumph of human virtues in the face of systematic, institutional inhumanity.

It is 1991 in Latvia and nineteen-year-old aspiring cinematographer Jazis’s whole world is thrown into chaos as he is dragged into the people’s peaceful protests against the Soviet Army’s attempted takeover of power in his country.

The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia. Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Alexander, and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get deported to Siberia. In her fight against cold, famine and cruelty, she only gains new strength through the letters she writes to Alexander, full of hope for a free Latvia and a better tomorrow.