The Sign Painter (Latgalian: Piļsāta pi upis, Latvian: Pilsēta pie upes – 'city by the river') is a 2020 Latvian historical drama directed by Viestur Kairish. The film premiered on 15 January 2020 in Latvia[1] and on 19 November 2020 internationally at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.[2]

The Sign Painter
Directed byViestur Kairish
Written byViestur Kairish (based on a novel by Gunārs Janovskis)
Produced byGuntis Trekteris
Julietta Sichel
Kęstutis Drazdauskas
Peter Ragauss
StarringDāvis Suharevskis
Gundars Āboliņš
Agnese Cīrule
Juozas Budraitis
Brigita Cmuntova
CinematographyGints Bērziņš
Edited byArmands Začs
Music byJuste Janulytė
Distributed byEastWest Distribution
Release date
  • 15 January 2020 (2020-01-15)
Running time
118 minutes
CountriesLatvia, Czech Republic, Lithuania
LanguagesLatgalian, Latvian, German, Russian, Yiddish
BudgetEUR 1.5 million

Plot

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The Sign Painter is a tragicomedy about a young Latvian man, Ansis, with simple dreams: to marry Zisele, the free-spirited and beautiful daughter of a local Jewish merchant, and to pursue a career as an artist whilst supporting himself as a sign painter. But his dreams are repeatedly swept away in the tumultuous tides of serial totalitarian occupation of his home during World War II.

References

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  1. ^ "The Sign Painter". National Film Centre of Latvia. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ Balčus, Zane (6 November 2020). "Latvian/Czech/Lithuanian The Sign Painter Signs North American Sales Deal". Film New Europe Association. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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