''Distant Lights'' is a 2003 German film directed by Hans-Christian Schmid. The film takes place on the Polish-German border at Słubice and

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

. It features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

, and the various threads illustrate the daily life between the two countries. Its original German title is ''Lichter'', which means "Lights".

Plot

Unlike many ensemble films, the subplots of the film mostly do not interconnect with each other, and the film ends without a finale. Instead, the story threads illustrate life on the border between two countries; what appears to be poverty and desperation to some is a promised land for others, worth risking their lives to reach. The threads are: *Kolya, a Ukrainian, has paid to be smuggled into Germany illegally; he finds he has been left on the Polish side of the border. When he is caught, a German interpreter agrees to smuggle him herself; he reaches

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. *Ingo, a German mattress salesman, finds business in Frankfurt to be minimal and the people self-interested. He is humiliated and becomes desperate, but may have found love in Simone. *Antoni, a Polish taxi driver, struggles to find the money to buy a communion dress for his daughter. By the time he is able to afford it, he is too late. (This subplot pays homage to

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

's film ''Raining Stones'' and

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

's '' All or Nothing''.) *Philip, a young German architect, runs into his Polish former girlfriend Beata while working on a building project in Słubice. Neither the romance nor the project works out. *Anna and Dimitri, a young Ukrainian couple, are swindled out of their money and try with Antoni's help to cross the river Oder, almost drowning in the attempt. *Andreas, a young German orphan who smuggles cigarettes, attempts to take the money and run away with a girl from the children's home.

Cast

Reception

*The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2003

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

*2003

Findling Award The Findling Award or short Findling () was a German film award donated by the umbrella organization of cultural cinemas and film clubs Verband für Filmkommunikation. It was founded in 1982 in GDR and was awarded on several film festivals. Far m ...

*2002 Bundesfilmpreis in silver *Best Direction, Best Script, 2003 Bavarian Film Prize

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2003 films 2000s German-language films 2000s Polish-language films Ukrainian-language films 2000s Russian-language films 2003 drama films German drama films Films about immigration Films directed by Hans-Christian Schmid Films set in Berlin Films shot in Poland 2003 multilingual films German multilingual films 2000s German films Films set in Lubusz Voivodeship