The Latvian Film Museum – the only museum in Latvia dedicated to this art form – is the “child” of the legendary 1986 Film Days. The idea to establish it emerged after the closing of the Film Days that same year, initiated by Augusts Sukuts together with film scholars Inga Pērkone and Juris Civjans. Throughout 1987, Augusts Sukuts fought against bureaucracy to obtain the necessary permission to establish the Film Museum in Riga. This was only achieved in 1988, bypassing the Riga authorities, when on 1 March the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR issued an order to establish the Riga Film Museum. It was initially planned that the museum would be located in an 18th-century warehouse at 10/12 Peitavas Street – a building full of gas masks, where in 1990 the museum opened its first exhibition “Darkness of Possibilities. Cinema in Latvia 1920–1940,” which for the first time addressed Latvian cinema prior to World War II. The museum began its regular exhibition activity in 1994.

Over the years, the Film Museum has changed its location several times, using premises at the Riga Video Centre, the former Illegal Press Museum on Krāslavas Street, the Audiovisual Document Archives, and the Riga Film Studio. Since 19 May 2006, as part of the state agency “National Film Centre,” the Film Museum returned to its originally planned address at 10 Peitavas Street, and within a short period of time became a recognized name in the Latvian cultural environment. The museum’s strategy throughout the years has been to offer high-quality cultural products, to foster a diverse and well-developed audiovisual environment, and to educate a knowledgeable and competent audience by ensuring access to film knowledge.

In 2010, within the framework of state administration reform, the Film Museum was incorporated into the Latvian Academy of Culture. In 2020, the museum’s collection was transferred to new, specially adapted premises at 8 Pulka Street, which became the new home for the collections of four Latvian museums, significantly improving collection management.

The year 2025 has brought many positive changes for the Film Museum. It has a new, more suitable name – the Latvian Film Museum. The museum is now located in new premises in Riga, at 58a Miera Street. From 21 August, the Latvian Film Museum invites visitors to its new exhibition *“Conjuring Worlds: Latvian Film Artists.”*