Kicking off the month of national celebrations, director Dzintars Dreibergs' new film Escape Net (Tīklā. TTT leģendas dzimšana) premiered on November 6 in a patriotic mood. It is a biographical drama about the beginnings of the legendary Latvian women's basketball team.
Escape Net is director Dzintars Dreibergs' tribute to important pages in Latvian history and to the people who, in the darkest times, were able to ignite new sparks of Latvian self-confidence.
“The premiere was completely sold out in 14 theatres, with more than 3,500 viewers across Latvia, and that is the most important thing. Because stories like these not only need to be created, they also need to find their audience. This film is not just about basketball. It is a story about people who fought—some loudly, some quietly. It is also a story about love—not only in the romantic sense, but also about love for family and one's country, which leads to the courage to fight for what is important. I am very happy and grateful to everyone who has invested their work and love over the years so that we can all experience the story of the TTT girls on the big screen. It is a special honor that the legendary TTT player Skaidrīte Smildziņa-Budovska will be with us at the premiere," says director Dzintars Dreibergs.
The film's patron, former President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, was unable to attend the premiere, but admits that she has already seen it: "The film is about Latvia, its people and basketball – about one of the occasions when the people of Latvia demonstrated abilities and performance that were formally incompatible with their numbers and situation. As we have seen over the years in sports and the arts. I cried, I learned, I lived along with them, I laughed, I applauded the beautiful and important shots that hit the basket. I reflected on and took the film—this story—with me. It is important to tell our stories, because that is how they are reawakened, remembered, live on, and continue to inspire future works. The film shows and reminds us how one is made to break, yet remains unbroken. How, with willpower and determination, titanic strength and resolve, you can do a lot and achieve great things.”
The feature film is based on true events, taking viewers to the mid-20th century – to Riga, Latvia, occupied by the Soviets, where the women's basketball team "TTT" is being formed, which will soon become a European and world basketball phenomenon. The main character of the film is the first captain of the "TTT" team, Dzidra Uztupe-Karamiševa, and through her story, not only the drama of training and competitions is revealed, but also the personal challenges of young athletes, political pressure and the courage to defeat even those who must not be defeated.
The women's basketball team "TTT" has won 12 consecutive USSR championship gold medals, 18 European Champions Cup titles (today comparable to the FIBA Euroleague) and is included in the Guinness Book of Records. Dzidra Uztupe-Karamiševa was the only Latvian in the Stalinist USSR national team for a long time, later becoming the captain and coach of the "TTT" team.
The role of Dzidra Uztupe-Karamiševa is played by actress Agnese Budovska. The film also stars Jēkabs Reinis, Artūrs Skrastiņš, Artūrs Smoļjaņinovs, Rēzija Kalniņa, Evelīna Otto, Gatis Gāga, Marta Lovisa Jančevska, Raimonds Celms, Natālija Živec, Anatolijs Fečins, etc.
This is not the first time that the general sponsor store "DEPO" supports cultural events important to Latvia. “The symbolic code of Latvia has been the cradle since ancient times. What we put into it, we can also expect. If we put the love, determination, perseverance and strength that the TTT golden girls show, then we can be calm about the future, because the story of our Latvia will continue. The film is like a bridge between generations, caring for the self-confidence and spiritual strength of the future Latvian in its deepest sense. Therefore, we, “DEPO”, are sincerely grateful to Dzintars and his team for their important work. And once again, the biggest thank you to the TTT golden girls – your strength and passion continue to inspire us!” emphasizes “DEPO” Marketing Director Rimants Jugans.
The film was made at the KULTFILMA studio. The director and producer is Dzintars Dreibergs, cinematographer – Valdis Celmiņš, composer – Lolita Ritmanis, artist – Laura Dišlere, editing director – Gatis Belogrudovs, sound director – Aleksandrs Vaicahovskis, costume designer – Sandra Sila, makeup artist – Aija Beata Rjabovska, casting director – Gunita Groša, producers – Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone, Arta Ģiga, Inga Praņevska. Distributor – “Baltic Content Media”.
The production and production of the film is financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the project “Growth of Latvian film industry companies by promoting their professional capacity” (No. 13.1.4.0/22/I/001) implemented by the National Film Centre of Latvia. The project is co-financed by REACT-EU funding to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic crisis. The development of the film has been supported by the State Cultural Capital Fund and the EU program “Creative Europe MEDIA”.
Information prepared by:
Anete Pupila
Film media coordinator
anete.pupila@deepwhite.lv
(Translated with the help of DeepL Translate)
