The story of Riga would be different without Sergei Eisenstein – the beloved film director and creator of the new, unique language of cinema that strongly impacted the development of the cinema as visual art. The distinguished director, script writer and art theoretician was born January 22 of 1989 in Riga, but his path led to Petrograd and Moscow. His father, Mikhail Eisenstein, was one of the most famous Art Nouveau architects in Riga.

"Strike" (1924), "Battleship "Potjomkin"" (1925), "October: 10 Days That Shook The World" (1927) "The Old and the New" (1929), "Alexander Nevsky" (1938), "Ivan the Terrible" (Part I 1945., Part II 1946/1948, Part III 1946 – unfinished) – 6 films shot by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein that truly shocked the world.

1930. Eisenstein started to shoot a documentary "Que Viva Mexico!". 1932. Stalin ordered his return to the Soviet Union. Eisenstein was loyal to the ideals of the Communism and returned to Moscow. The material shot in Mexico was cinematized in 1933 in New York under the name "The Thunder over Mexico" without participation of the author.

The life of Eisenstein in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era was not easy – his fame and influence in USSR increased and decreased proportionally to the success of his films in the world. Eisenstein died February 11, 1948 in Moscow.

Latvian film director Ansis Epners (1937 – 2003) shot the documentaries „Sergei Eisenstein. Preface”, „Sergei Eisenstein. Post Scriptum”. The film festival „Arsenals 2002” in Riga was celebrated under the name of Eisenstein.

In the memoirs, Sergei Eisenstein states that he has been a Rigan all his life.