Doom 94

Plot

The novel begins on April 5, 1994, the death of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana. Cobain's death influences youngsters living in Jelgava, Latvia, to begin listening to heavy metal music. This is also the time that Latvia has recently regained its independence from the Soviet Union, causing economic and social upheaval. The book's main character Janis turns to the alternative lifestyle offered by an emergent heavy metal scene.

Since 2016 the original book Jelgava 94 has already been translated into 11 languages – French, Slovenian, Norwegian, Estonian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, English, Bulgarian, Spanish, German and Finnish.

Language	Title	Publisher	Translator	Year of release
French	"Metal"	GAIA Editions	Nicolas Auzanneau	2016
Slovenian	"Metalci ‘94"	Miš	Jedrt Lapuh Maležič	2016
Norwegian	"Fordømte 94"	Bokbyen Forlag	Snorre Karkonen-Svensson	2016
Estonian	"Jelgava 94"	Randvelt	Mikk Grins	2017
Lithuanian	"Jelgava 94"	Kitos knygos	Jurgis Algimantas Banevičius	2018
Hungarian	"Metál"	Vince Kiadó	Tölgyesi Beatrix	2018
English	"Doom 94"	Wrecking Ball Press	Kaija Straumanis	2018
Bulgarian	"Йелгава 94"	Izida	Albena Metodieva	2018
Spanish	"Jelgava"	Abismos casa editorial	Ana Karenina O. Contreras	2020
German	"Jelgava 94"	parasitenpresse	Bettina Bergmann	2022
Finnish	"Doom 94"	Siltala	Annika Suna	2022

Work on a film adaptation of the book called Jelgava 94 began in 2017. The film was released in September 2019. Movie scenes were filmed in many locations throughout Riga and Jelgava, and at a former school in Priekuļi Municipality. The main actor was Bruno Bitenieks who was a student at Riga Teika Secondary School. The film received funding from the National Film Center and is supported by Jelgava Municipality. The film was produced by Jura Podnieka studija.