DISTANT LIGHTS

Screenplay: Hans-Christian Schmid, Michael Gutmann
Casting: Simone Bär
Director of Photography: Bogumil Godfrejow
Editing: Hansjörg Weißbrich
Score/ music: The Notwist
Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Costume Design: Ulrike Scharfschwerdt
Make-up Artist: Tatjana Krauskopf
Sound recording: Marc Parisotto

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

Maria Simon (Sonja), Janek Rieke (Christoph), Ivan Shvedoff (Kolja), Herbert Knaup (Klaus), August Diehl (Philip), Julia Krynke (Beata), Sergej Frolov (Dimitri), Anna Janowskaja (Ewa), Devid Striesow (Ingo),   Claudia Geisler (Simone), Zbigniew Zamachowski (Antoni), Aleksandra Justa (Milena), Sebastian Urzendowsky (Andreas), Alice Dwyer (Katharina), Martin Kiefer (Marko), Tom Jahn (Maik), Agnieszka Duleba – Kasza (Monika), Henry Hübchen (Wilke), Jerzy Gralek (Borowiak)

German Film Award in Silver “Best Film” 2003
Bavarian Film Award 2003: Best Film and Best Screenplay for Hans-Christian Schmid and Michael Gutmann
FIPRESCI Critics’ Award at the Berlin Film Festival 2003
Screenplay Award at the Schwerin Film Festival 2003
German Film Critics’ Award at the Max Ophüls Festival Hansjörg Weißbrich Editing Award
Nominated for the German Film Award in the categories “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Supporting Actress” and “Best Supporting Actor”

Filmförderungsanstalt, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmstiftung NRW, BKM