Section: Spectrum

JANU NAKTS

MIDSUMMER MADNESS

Alexander Hahn
Latvia, Austria, United Kingdom , 2006, 90 Min
EastWest-Distribution

Midsummer in Latvia – and the shortest night of the year seems to be turning the whole country on its head. A young American arrives in Riga, intending to look for his Latvian half-sister Maia. The inconveniences begin even before he leaves the airport. Curt is beginning to hate the place, but thanks to the loquacious cab-driver Oskars and various other interludes the morose tourist starts to feel more positive.

French poet Livia, by contrast, has come to Lithuania to bury her recently deceased husband. Only in Riga Airport does the undertaker Peteris tell her she’s come to the wrong country. They decide to travel to Lithuania overland.

Meantime, two firemen from England are greeting their colleagues in the Latvian town that is twinned with their own, blissfully unaware that they are about to be introduced to Latvian customs and above Latvian (midsummer) nights.

Karl, Axel and Leonid are intent on making international business deals. Unfortunately, nobody tells them it would be wiser to steer clear of women and magic mushrooms.

The nymphomaniac Aida, for her part, has very different problems. She’s taking her new boyfriend to meet the family. There’s only one snag: her family loathes foreigners and Yuki is Japanese...

And all the protagonists – plus a kangaroo – come together in the hospital the morning after.

A wild comedy about life in Latvia on Midsummer’s Night – a night of scant sleep and love galore.

Filmformat
35mm | Farbe / colour
Drehbuch
Alexander Hahn, Alexander Mahler, Norman Hudis
Kamera
Jerzy Palacz
Ton
Aivars Riekstins
Schnitt
Klaus Hundsbichler
Ausstattung
Maris Sejaus, Ieva Romanova
Musik
Klaus Hundsbichler
Darsteller
María de Medeiros, Dominique Pinon, Orlando Wells, Tobias Moretti, Tschulpan Chamatowa, Birgit Minichmayr, Detlev Buck, Gundars Abolins, Dzintars Belogrudovs, Jewgenij Sitochin, Rossy de Palma
Produzent
Markus Fischer
Produktion
Fischerfilm, Steve Walsh Productions, Kaupo Films
Co-Produktion
Steve Walsh, Guntis Trekteris
Kontakt
EastWest-Distribution
Schottenfeldgasse 14
1070 Wien
Austria
Tel: +43.1.524 93 10
Fax: +43.1.524 93 10 20
office@eastwest-distribution.com
Alexander Hahn

Alexander Hahn - born 1967 in Riga. He emigrated to West Germany with his parents in 1968. He studied at Vienna Film Academy.

Movies
WARUM NEGER SCHWARZ? (1989, short)
AUGUSTUS INTERRUPTUS (1990, short)
DALEKO OT SANKT-PETERBURGA (1992)
ZAHN UM ZAHN (1993, short)
FAITHY Y2K (1999, short)
MARCHING GAILY (2001, short, doc)
2000 & 1 NIGHT (2002, doc)
KUKURUZAS MAJA (2003, short, doc)
GO ACTIVE! (2004, short)
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