Viestur Kairish

Viestur Kairish (born 30 January 1971) is a Latvian film, opera, and theatre director whose work has been recognized at festivals across Europe. He trained as a theatre and film director at the Latvian Academy of Culture, graduating in 1997. Kairish began his filmmaking career with the documentary The Train in 1998. His feature debut, Leaving by the Way (2002), earned Latvia's National Film Award for Best Feature, competed at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and won the Best Debut prize at London's Raindance Film Festival, along with a FIPRESCI Award for Best Baltic Film. He went on to direct the historical drama Chronicles of Melanie (2015), a Latvian-Finnish co-production, and January (2022), which won the Lielais Kristaps award for best feature film. His documentary Pelican in the Desert screened in competition at the Visions du Réel festival in Nyon and received a Special Jury Prize at Vienna's Let's CEE Film Festival. His newest film Ulya (2026) has been screened at the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard selection. Alongside his film work, Kairish has built a prominent career as an opera director. He made his opera debut with Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at