Ilze Kunga-Melgaile previously wrote and directed five short films, often working in an auteur cinema style, sometimes working as her own editor. She has been a great presence in the Latvian film industry since 1999, when she left her job in banking to study film and television direction in Saint Petersburg. On her return to Latvia, she gained momentum by working across some of Riga’s biggest studios, such as with the director Ivo Kalpenieks and Tasse Film.
MY FREEDOM (2023) is her debut feature film that was nurtured in the Work in Progress programme at Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event. The historical-drama is a Latvian and Lithuanian co-production and has been selected as Latvia's entry for The Academy Awards' International Film Feature Films submissions.
