Between the two world wars and in the following years the mandatory newsreel was always screened before each picture show. Statesmen, unveiling of newly constructed buildings, festive occasions and all kinds of events were all being diligently recorded on film. The old footage — Driving the Bolsheviks out of Riga (1919), for example — is a historian's delight. There were organisations which, seeing that cinema is a way of being preserved for posterity, ordered special newsreel segments to be made. In this way priceless evidence of the way we lived, what were our thoughts, what ideas were circling among people, has been preserved. The oh-so-familiar everyday life was also documented ― work in the fields, all the mundane things. This task was undertaken by the most talented filmmakers with a sense of mission, like Voldemārs Pūce in his documentary Our Grey Precious Stone, a film on the utilization of limestone in Latvia; as a work of art and a source of information it's a classical picture. From the 1920's to 1996 important and truthfully related ― though variously interpreted ideology-wise ― facts and human portraits abound in newsreels.

Each year several full-length documentaries were made at the Riga Film Studio, and people flocked to the movie theatres to watch them. Latvian documentary cinema is still very influential. The greatest response was to analytical problem films by Herz Frank, Juris Podnieks, Ivars Seleckis. Ten Minutes Older. It seems that this documentary is well-known all over the world. In its honour several world-famous filmmakers, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch among them, each contributed a 10 minute short to a mutual project called, of course, Ten Minutes Older.

Another documentary which provoked explosive resonance was the extremely frank story of problems the young people of the 80's faced in Latvia, Is it Easy to be Young? by Juris Podnieks; dozens of foreign TV networks bought the broadcasting rights.

The Crossroad Street by Ivars Seleckis touched a chord with spectators and juries of international film festivals with the simple yet moving story of the everyday life of residents of a very ordinary Riga street. The film has won all the awards a documentary could possibly receive ― The Felix Award ― the main award of European filmmakers ― in1990, the Joris Ivens Award at the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam and Grand Prix at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan.

Documentaries on sports as independent works of art in emotionally touching cinematic language have been made by Ansis Epners; documentary filmmakers Dzintra Geka and Rodrigo Rikards are still busy working.

A group of then young, talented and courageous directors ― Uldis Brauns, Aivars Freimanis, Ivars Kraulītis, Varis Krūmiņš ― cultivated what became famous as the Riga poetic documentary style as opposed to the official Soviet propaganda filmmaking. The best known of our cameramen Andris Slapiņš, Miks Zvirbulis, Gvido Skulte, Dāvis Sīmanis, documentary filmmakers Andris Seleckis, Kalvis Zalcmanis, Ralfs Krūmiņš, Valdis Kroģis, Sergejs Nikolajevs, Gunārs Bandēns have shown us to the world the way we are, so very akin to Latvian nature: a bit harsh, very private and reserved. During the last decade there has been a very heartening animation in the sphere of documentary filmmaking. A new generation of directors ― Askolds Saulītis, Andis Mizišs, Olafs Okonovs, Jānis Vingris, Una Celma ― has introduced themselves with a flourish. The Vides filmu studija should be specifically mentioned for their original ideas and unconventional cinematic language.

Our documentary filmmakers who have always been very susceptive to acute and debate-provoking problems are compiling unique material on the Latvian national identity, mentality and the environment we live in.