The Foundation of Criminal Excellence / Kriminālās ekselences fonds
Latvia 2018

Con artists, a gun and a stolen mutt — this crime comedy follows Imants Veide, an ambitious, daring and imaginative television screenwriter who is commissioned to write a crime story about con schemes. He seeks inspiration and advice from local swindlers and black-market profiteers and, together with his friend Harijs, tries out their tricks in real life for greater authenticity until they get too entangled in real criminal schemes. As more and more colourful characters appear, Imant's neighbour — a true iron lady with balls bigger than all those involved combined — becomes the main adversary on his road to criminal excellence.

Although the story is set in Soviet Latvia of the 80s, it incorporates certain elements from the preceding and subsequent decades. The film portrays the ingenuity of human imagination when most of the resources are cut off by the iron curtain.