"THE QUEEN OF SILENCE" AWARDED AT ONE WORLD
The documentary by Agnieszka Zwiefka was given the Czech Radio Jury award at the One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Radio Jury gives its award for innovative use of music and sound in documentary film. The jury commented its decision this year in the following way: „The Queen of Silence" provides a unique insight into the interior world and sense of sound of a girl with a severe hearing handicap. In this documentary, the role of sound is as important as the image, and at times even more important. The music used in the film subtly underscores the parallel worlds of the central character, Denisa, a dancer.
10-year old, deaf and mute Denisa lives on an illegal encampment. Like other children on the encampment, Denisa has never been to school, she can neither read nor write, and lives in extremely difficult conditions, without running water and constant access to electricity. In addition, she is also laughed at by her peers, who call her "the deaf one" or "the silly one," rarely using her name. However, Denisa lives in her own world. Since she found a box with Bollywood films among the rubbish, she finds escape from the everyday reality in them. The girl spends all her days watching Bollywood choreography and tries to imitate it. Because Denisa never learnt to speak, dance is her only language. Only by dancing she can give vent to her anger, show sadness or joy. In the film, two layers - the documentary, strictly observational one, and the musical one, inspired by Bollywood, smoothly intertwine with one another, creating one, consistent story.