Austrian director Stephan Wagner makes his feature debut with this edgy deadpan film noir about two friends who -- upon opening an antique shop -- learn more about the themselves and the world around them than they cared to know. Former thug Bernd (Thomas Morris) grows weary of the crime racket and particularly of his psychotic partner Erwin (Wolfgang S. Zechmayer) and decides to buy a curio shop from an old man with his buddy Paul (Simon Licht). Paul manages to pool some money together for the purchase thanks to the family of his girlfriend Eva (Eva-Marie Straka). Problems arise when Paul throws his relationship with Eva in jeopardy when he involves himself in an increasingly intense affair with Lisa (Tatjana Alexander). Meanwhile, Bernd, who is using the shop as a cover for his drug-dealing ring, garners some unneeded notice from his scorned colleague Erwin. Matters come to a head when Bernd is ordered by crime boss Dragan to kill Erwin while Paul's romantic double-dealing finally catches up with him. Kubanisch rauchen was screened at the 1999 Denver Film Festival.