Distant Lights (2003)
"Lichter" (original title)

This movie reflects on the situation around the border between Poland and Germany. The fate of many single characters creates a picture of life in this region: Some Ukrainians want to cross... See full summary »

Director:

Hans-Christian Schmid

Writers:

Michael Gutmann, Hans-Christian Schmid

Stars:

Andrzej Górak, Anna Yanovskaya, Sergey Frolov

14 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrzej Górak	...	LKW Fahrer
Anna Yanovskaya	...	Anna (as Anna Janowskaja)
Sergey Frolov	...	Dimitri (as Sergej Frolov)
Bartek Wójtowicz	...	Petja
Ivan Shvedoff	...	Kolya
Andrej Liousikov	...	Oleg
Sergey Kalantay	...	Flüchtling
Nikolaus Kieselmann	...	Flüchtling
Juri Konkov	...	Flüchtling
Wojciech Klimowicz	...	Flüchtling
Boris Raskin	...	Flüchtling
Jana Pfeffer	...	Flüchtling
Martin Kiefer	...	Marko
Peter Obermann	...	Zollbeamter
Alice Dwyer	...	Katharina

Storyline

This movie reflects on the situation around the border between Poland and Germany. The fate of many single characters creates a picture of life in this region: Some Ukrainians want to cross the border illegal to get into Germany, a company wants to build a new factory, a Polish taxi driver desperately needs money to buy his daughter a communion dress, and so on.

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Plot Keywords:

border | taxi driver | poland | communion dress | dress | 

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Taglines:

Willkommen in der Wirklichkeit

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Polish Russian

Release Date:

31 July 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Au feu!

Filming Locations:

Kunowice, Lubuskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte, Claussen & Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Kinomagazin: An der Grenze - Der Film 'Lichter' von Hans-Christian Schmid und Michael Gutmann (2003)

User Reviews

Situations are the same, no matter where.

I've seen the movie just a month ago in a foreign film program in my city. I live in Juarez City, just in the border between Mexico and USA and let me tell you something that a good friend told me about it: "is the best movie I ever seen about Juarez city". Situations are the same and are truly reflected on the screen the reality on millions and millions of persons worldwide. It's very common to see persons trying to go to the other side of the river to get the "American dream" and in the mid time histories like the ones reflected on the movie took place every single day. The screenplay is very simple, and characters were well developed during the film. The most touching history was the "mattress guy". The actor transmits very deep emotions and exactly the same situation lived a good friend of mine here, miles away. Another strong history was the one related with the Ukrainian immigrants. Every year, hundreds of persons die in this city in their attempt to go to the other side, just miles away, were the lights are reflecting a different nation and in consequence different opportunities. The cast of actors were well selected and performances were simple, but convincing. This is the first film I saw from Schmid but I have to thank him for this extraordinary movie. As I think, there is no need to have a high budget to deliver a good film and this is another example that sometimes the simple is the best. Characters that could be identified with real people in real situations. At the end, the last scene defines and summarizes all the history: life is so strange and we can be touched by simple people forever. By films like this is why I like the movies.