"VERA GRAN" AND "DOCTORS" NOMINATED FOR THE PRIX EUROPA AWARD

This weekend in Berlin, the Prix Europa festival starts, at which the awards for the best European radio, television and internet productions are given. In the television documentary category, two Polish films are nominated for the award: "Vera Gran" by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz and "Doctors" by Tomasz Wolski.

The Prix Europa festival came into being in 1987 as the initiative of the Council of Europe and European Cultural Foundation. Its aim is to promote and present the widest possible range of European radio, television and internet productions. Today, the festival cooperates with over 25 organisations from different countries, to mention only European Parliament, European Broadcasting Union or Polish Television. It is the place for the producers from all around Europe to meet and share their opinions. This year's edition takes place from 20 to 26 October.

This year, as many as two Polish films are nominated for the Prix Europa Award in the television documentary category. The first one is "Vera Gran" by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz. The film is a portrait of cabaret singer from the Warsaw ghetto, who was suspected of collaboration with Gestapo. The director, going in the footsteps of Agata Tuszyńska, the author of the book "The Accused: Vera Gran," transcends the boundaries of biographical film or investigating documentary. Reconstructing the war- and post-war fate of the artist, the film touches upon moral judgement, which usually comes too easy - to these who did not experience the hell of war, as well as to these who survived it and need unambiguous assessment.
 
The second film is "Doctors" by Tomasz Wolski.This film, awarded at the 51st Krakow Film Festival and at Plus Cameraimage festival, takes the viewers to the places which are usually inaccessible to them - to operating rooms, surgeries, and rooms where specialist medical consultations take place. On the surgical ward we watch the everyday work of doctors: the hierarchy among them, the necessity of taking important decisions, contending with economic problems. Though doctors usually use a language which is unintelligible for a  man on the street, there is also place for little jokes or branch anecdotes. During their work, in spite of their knowledge and experience, also some unexpected events happen.

More information about the nominations on the festival's website.