THE QUEEN OF SILENCE
POLISH TITLE: KRÓLOWA CISZY
The film tells the story of a 10 years old deaf gypsy girl, living at an illegal settlement in Poland. As the whole community faces the threat of eviction, brutal attacks from the neighbours and extreme poverty – Denisa tries to find her own way to deal with the hardships of everydaylife.One day, going through the local dumspters in search of clothes and wood, Denisa fidns a box of Bollywood films. Ever since fascinated by the glamour world she sees on a small TV (whenever her parents can afford fuel as there is no electricity at the settling) Denisa is making her own Bollywood clothes and rehearsing dance choreographies untill she reaches perfection. Day by day she brings other kids from the settling into her magic world. Our film has two layers -strictly observational documentary and musical shot in Bollywood style. The musical sequences are the opposite of what we see in the real world (however they have their beginnings in the documentary ones). In the musical Denisa can become anyone she wants – even a Queen that has power over people that treat the gypsy children really badly. After finding an old plastic crown Denisa moves into the magic world of dance and imagination.
- GENRE:
- documentary / fiction
- COUNTRY:
- Poland, Germany
- RUNNING TIME:
- 80'
- YEAR:
- 2014
- COLOUR:
- colour
- DIRECTING:
- Agnieszka Zwiefka
- SCRIPT:
- Agnieszka Zwiefka
- DOP:
- Aleksander Duraj, Armand Urbaniak
- EDITOR:
- Hansjörg Weißbrich , Thomas Ernst
- MUSIC:
- Cocorosie, Dani Pintul Banatului, Jessica de Rooij
- PRODUCTION:
- HBO Poland, Chilli Productions, Ma.ja.de., Odra Film, ARTE/ZDF
Agnieszka Zwiefka »
Agnieszka Zwiefka is an award-winning filmmaker. Her films „The Queen of Silence“ (2014) and „Scars” (2020) were screened at festivals worldwide. In her films she balances between reality and fantasy, creating hybrids that cross the border between documentary and fiction. Member of European Film Academy (EFA). Alumna of workshops Dok.Incubator, ScripTeast, Nipkow Programme and Berlinale Talents as well as Meryl Streep’s and Nicole Kidman’s The Writers Lab.
- IDFA 2014, The Netherlands, 2014 (competition)
- DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Finland, 2015 (competition)
- Tempo Documentary Festival, Sweden, 2015 (competition)
- One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic, 2015 (Czech Radio Jury Award)
- 20th Vilnius International Film Festival, Lithuania , 2015 (competition)
- 22nd Hot Docs Canadian IDF, Canada, 2015 (competition)
- 31st International Documentary Film Festival Munich DOK.fest, Germany, 2015 (Special Mention)
- 55th Krakow Film Festival, Poland, 2015 (The Silver Horn, Polish Society of Cinematographers Award for the Best Cinematography)
- 29th Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival, Estonia, 2015 (competition)
- IDFF "Flahertiana", Russia, 2015 (Big Golden Nanuk)
- Let's Cee Film Festival 2015, Austria, 2015 (Best Film in Documentary Competition)