HJFF: The Sign Painter

Chair’s Choice
Join us for The Sign Painter, a favorite of our Film Chair, Yvette Pintar.

Directed by Viesturs Kairiss
Latvia, 2020, 114 minutes
Language
Latvian, German, Russian, Yiddish with English Subtitles
Foreign Language Title
Piļsāta pi upis
Genre
Drama

This historical drama follows a young Latvian man against the backdrop of changing dictatorships through World War II. He’s a talented artist, whose profession – Sign Painter – keeps him busy painting and repainting colors and street names as his town is conquered first by a local dictator, then Russia, and finally Nazi Germany. All the while, his forbidden love for the Jewish shopkeeper’s daughter can’t be forgotten, even after marrying someone else. Will he keep following along, or paint something new?

Executive Producer, Peter Ragauss, in attendance for Post-Film Q&A