ELWIRA NIEWIERA AND PIOTR ROSOŁOWSKI AWARDED IN GERMANY
The director duo received the award for the young film-makers. This award is granted by the DEFA Foundation.
DEFA Foundation (DEFA-Stiftung) was established in 1998 in Berlin. The foundation's primary goal is to protect the film heritage of the studio DEFA and to make the productions available to the public within the frames of the national cultural heritage. The foundation digitises its archives so that their resources are as accessible as possible to the viewers and are still presented in television and at the cinema. The foundation supports film culture by giving various kinds of funds, grants and awards.
One of such awards went to the film duo from Poland. The pair of the documentary film-makers received the award granted to the young film-makers. Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski made two films together: "The Prince and the Dybbuk" and "Domino Effect." Both productions have been appreciated and awarded at international festivals.
Elwira Niewiera is the author of documentary films. Her first film, "Domino Effect," was presented at over 50 international film festival, among others, at such prestigious events as the IDFA Amsterdam, the Hot Docs Toronto and the MoMA Documentary Fortnight New York. "Domino Effect" won numerous awards, among others, the Golden Dove at the IFF DOK Leipzig in 2014 and the Golden Horn for the Best Film in the Short Film Competition at the 54th Krakow Film Festival. The film was also distributed in art house cinemas in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Elwira Niewiera is a member of the Polish Film Academy.
Piotr Rosołowski is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Radio and Television Faculty at the University of Silesia. Scholarship holder of the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. Co-author of the Academy Award-nominated documentary film "Rabbit a la Berlin" and the co-director of the film "Domino Effect," together with Elwira Niewiera. The cinematographer for many award-winning documentary and feature films, among others, the Academy Award nominee, the short film "On the Line," directed by Reto Caffi.
You can read more about the DEFA Foundation on its official website.