Cinevilla is a

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

Slampe parish Slampe Parish () is an administrative unit of Tukums Municipality, Latvia, in the region of Semigallia Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia ...

in the

Tukums Municipality Tukums Municipality () is a Latvian municipality situated partly in the region of Semigallia, partly in Courland and partly in Vidzeme. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Degole Parish, Džūkste Parish, Irlava Parish, Jaunsāti P ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and was created for the outdoor shootings of the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

'' Defenders of Riga''. It is the only backlot in Latvia, and consists of different sections, including a section with village architecture, a section with prehistorical dwellings, and one with city streets, with

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

s of historical buildings and constructions of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the capital of Latvia. The backlot has a small canal to resemble the

Daugava The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...

river quays of the

Riga old town Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. The Stone Bridge is also there as well as the historical Lübeck and Pontoon bridges. Cinevilla is now a major tourist attraction, and is the only such large-scale open-air cinema exhibition in the Baltic States. In 2008,

Jānis Streičs Jānis Streičs (born 26 September 1936) is a Soviet/Latvian film director. Streičs' 1991 comedy film ''The Child of Man'' was runner-up for the Chicago International Children's Film Festival Rights of the Child Award in 1994. It had previously b ...

shot the film '' Rudolf's Gold'' on the lot, simulating a Kurzeme farmstead.

References

External links

Official site

Cinevilla at vietas.lv
Buildings and structures in Latvia Cinema of Latvia {{Latvia-geo-stub