The lead actress Matilda Arkele also received an award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Actress. Most of the film was shot in Riga — 25 out of 28 shooting days took place here. The production in Latvia was provided by Nafta Films in collaboration with Nordisk Film Production. The co-producers were Madara Kalniņa and Esko Rips. Other specialists from the Latvian film industry also participated in the creation of the film. The filming in Latvia was supported by the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the co-financing program of the Riga Film Fund. The plot centers around a young nanny and housekeeper named Maria, played by Arkele. She is preparing to marry the owner of the house — a wealthy widower named Christian, who is significantly older than her. However, Maria hides a shameful secret from post-war Danish society: during World War II, she had an intimate relationship with a German soldier. The past begins to threaten her new life, and amidst the chaos of the post-war period, Maria tries to maintain her position as the lady of the house at all costs. Her story resonates with the fates of thousands of women who were persecuted and publicly humiliated in 1945, shortly before and immediately after the liberation of Denmark, for their relationships with German soldiers. Maya el-Tuki is also known as the director of several episodes of the series "The Crown." Her debut feature film "Long Story Short" was released in 2015, and the world premiere of her second film "Queen of Hearts" (2019) took place at the Sundance Film Festival. El-Tuki is also part of the creative team of the Danish initiative Dogma 25. A significant portion of the crew consisted of Latvian specialists. Among them were the second production designer Karlis Utinans, costume designer Julia Volkinshteine, casting director for actors and extras in Latvia Marta Dzene, sound engineer Martins Rozentals, lighting designer Alexander Cherkashin, production manager Agate Prozorovicha, location manager Ingriida Nagle, script supervisor Anna Biubena, and photographer Andrei Strokins. Nafta Films is a film production company operating in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. It employs 30 permanent staff across the three Baltic countries, and the group's turnover last year was around 12 million euros.
