THE MOVER
Film - International Independents Filmfest 2019

THE MOVER

Directed by Dāvis Sīmanis

Info

Director: Dāvis Sīmanis
Section: International Independents
Country: Latvia
Year: 2018
OT: TĒVS NAKTS
Language: German, Latvian, Russian
Version: Original version with English subtitles
Cast: Artūrs Skrastiņš, Ilze Blauberga, Matīss Ķipluks, Steffen Scheumann, Toms Treinis
18+ (no age rating)

Logline

THE MOVER

Žanis Lipke was the Latvian Oskar Schindler. Like his German counterpart, he, his wife Johanna, and his son Zigis hid and rescued Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II. To support his family, Žanis works in a warehouse of the Luftwaffe and supplements his income by smuggling at night. At one point, the Nazis begin transporting Jews from the Riga Ghetto to do forced labor in the warehouse where Žanis works. Whatever his motivation, Žanis starts smuggling the Jews out of the labor camp. At first, he houses them in a neutral hiding place, but when that's in danger of being discovered, he builds a bunker in his basement and moves the refugees into his own home. Director Dāvis Sīmanis, whose home country of Latvia has featured in his previous films, tells a true story of Latvian heroism.

Meet the director

THE MOVER

Dāvis Sīmanis

Dāvis Sīmanis was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1980. Holding a PhD in arts, he is one of Latvia's most famous directors and theorists. His poetic documentaries such as CHRONICLES OF THE LAST TEMPLE (2013) and ESCAPING RIGA (2014) focus, like THE MOVER, on his home country. Sīmanis's first completely fictional film, EXILED (2016), told the tragic story of the fate of a remote mental institution around the time of World War I.

Credits

Screenplay: Dāvis Sīmanis, Matīss Gricmanis
Director of Photography: Andrejs Rudzāts
Film Editor: Andris Grants, Davis Sīmanis
Composer: Edgars Rubenis
Production Designer: Kristīne Jurjāne
Costume Design: Kristīne Jurjāne
Sound: Ernests Ansons
Producer: Gints Grūbe
Production Company: Mistrus Media
World Sales: Menesha Films