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Lichter

Deutschland 2002/2003 Spielfilm

Distant Lights

To some it′s the end of the world. To others, the gateway to a new life: the river Oder between Poland and Germany. Vibrant with expectancy, it′s a magnet for people from all walks of life on their journey towards happiness, security, and a better life. It′s a place where Ukrainian refugees beg and bargain for entry to the "golden West" and pin all their hopes on Polish help… A place where a hapless businessman loses everything he owns but gains something more important… Where a teen-aged cigarette smuggler defies his father and brother to free the girl he loves from a detention center… Where an interpreter risks her career and her freedom to help an illegal refugee… And where an architect meets his former girlfriend and discovers that they′ve both changed too much to find common ground for a new start.

At this crossroads between two worlds, where the law of the land is that of self-preservation, men and women struggle to maintain their dignity and their values as they are stripped to the raw core of their existence. Yet even in this often hostile climate, love and compassion blossom in the most unexpected ways. And although some hopes and dreams are doomed, others come to pass with the quiet joy of a small and humble miracle.

With tender realism and humanity, "Distant Lights" captures the lives of people seeking their footing in a world of moral ambiguity.

Source: German Films Service & Marketing GmbH

 

Credits

Director

  • Hans-Christian Schmid

Screenplay

  • Hans-Christian Schmid
  • Michael Gutmann

Director of photography

  • Bogumił Godfrejów

Editing

  • Bernd Schlegel
  • Hansjörg Weißbrich

Music

  • The Notwist

Cast

  • August Diehl
    Philip
  • Herbert Knaup
    Klaus
  • Julia Krynke
    Beata
  • Henry Hübchen
    Wilke
  • Maria Simon
    Sonja
  • Janek Rieke
    Christoph
  • Zbigniew Zamachowski
    Antoni
  • Aleksandra Justa
    Milena
  • Marysia Zamachowski
    Maria
  • Devid Striesow
    Ingo

Production company

  • Claussen + Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH (München-Geiselgasteig)

Producer

  • Jakob Claussen
  • Thomas Wöbke

Alle Credits

Director

  • Hans-Christian Schmid

Assistant director

  • Torsten Künstler
  • Kamil Majchrzak

Screenplay

  • Hans-Christian Schmid
  • Michael Gutmann

Director of photography

  • Bogumił Godfrejów

Assistant camera

  • Christian Nils Dlusztus

Production design

  • Christian Martin Goldbeck

Set design

  • Andrej Liousikov

Prop master

  • David Hoffmann
  • Claudia Grundhöfer

Make-up artist

  • Tatjana Krauskopf
  • Verena Weißert (Assistenz)

Costume design

  • Ulrike Scharfschwerdt

Editing

  • Bernd Schlegel
  • Hansjörg Weißbrich

Sound

  • Marc Parisotto
  • Stephan Michalik

Research

  • Kamil Majchrzak

Casting

  • Simone Bär

Music

  • The Notwist

Cast

  • August Diehl
    Philip
  • Herbert Knaup
    Klaus
  • Julia Krynke
    Beata
  • Henry Hübchen
    Wilke
  • Maria Simon
    Sonja
  • Janek Rieke
    Christoph
  • Zbigniew Zamachowski
    Antoni
  • Aleksandra Justa
    Milena
  • Marysia Zamachowski
    Maria
  • Devid Striesow
    Ingo
  • Claudia Geisler-Bading
    Simone
  • Sebastian Urzendowsky
    Andreas
  • Alice Dwyer
    Katharina
  • Martin Kiefer
    Marko
  • Tom Jahn
    Maik
  • Ivan Shvedoff
    Kolja
  • Sergej Frolov
    Dimitri
  • Anna Janowskaja
    Anna
  • Anna Fischer
    Mädchen
  • Kamil Majchrzak
    Student im Treppenhaus

Production company

  • Claussen + Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH (München-Geiselgasteig)

in co-production with

  • Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) (Mainz)

in association with

  • Arte Deutschland TV GmbH (Baden-Baden)

Producer

  • Jakob Claussen
  • Thomas Wöbke

Producer (TV)

  • Daniel Blum
  • Georg Steinert

Line producer

  • Uli Putz

Unit production manager

  • Anja C. Klement

Location manager

  • Hendrik Lam

Original distributor

  • Prokino Filmverleih GmbH (München)

Funding

  • Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH (Potsdam)
  • FilmFernsehFonds Bayern GmbH (FFFB) (München)
  • Film- und Medien Stiftung NRW (Düsseldorf)
  • Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA) (Berlin)
  • Beauftragte/r der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien - Filmförderung (Berlin)

Shoot

    • 13.09.2002 - 24.10.2002: Frankfurt/Oder, Slubice und Umgebung, Berlin
Duration:
2880 m, 105 min
Format:
35mm, 1:1,85
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby SRD
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 17.02.2003, 93098, ab 12 Jahre / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung (DE): 11.02.2003, Berlin, IFF - Wettbewerb;
Kinostart (DE): 31.07.2003;
TV-Erstsendung (DE FR): 14.03.2005, Arte

Titles

Additional titles
  • Originaltitel (DE) Lichter

Versions

Original

Duration:
2880 m, 105 min
Format:
35mm, 1:1,85
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby SRD
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 17.02.2003, 93098, ab 12 Jahre / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung (DE): 11.02.2003, Berlin, IFF - Wettbewerb;
Kinostart (DE): 31.07.2003;
TV-Erstsendung (DE FR): 14.03.2005, Arte

Awards

Deutscher Filmpreis 2003
  • Lola in Silber, Bester Spielfilm
Source-URL: https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/lichter_ea43d4a6a3845006e03053d50b37753d