“DOMINO EFFECT” AWARDED IN LEIPZIG

The film "Domino Effect" directed by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski was awarded at the DOK.Leipzig Festival, which ended last weekend. The film won the Golden Dove award for the best documentary film in the Doc German Competition.

57th edition of the festival DOK Leipzig came to its end on 2 November. In the evening of 1 November, the closing and award gala was held. Among the award-winners of Dok Leipzig, there is also "Domino Effect" by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski. As a Polish-German co-production, the film participated in the German Competition and won the Golden Dove award for the Best German Documentary.

We read in the jury’s verdict:”The East European Riviera at the Black Sea, a former war area, wistfulness and decay. The filmmakers get to know an Abkhazian-Russian pair who fiercely argues about their love. Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski tell the story of this absolutely impossible love with great warmth and a visual feeling for tragicomical, surreal scenes. And, at the same time, about the absurdity of an absolutely impossible society on the edge of Europe.”

The Abkhazian-Russian couple mentioned above are Rafael - the Minister of Sport in the Republic of Abkhazia, not recognised by other states, and Natasha - a Russian opera singer. For Rafael, Natasha abandoned her career and family in Russia. However, living in a country not recognised virtually by anyone, marked with civil war and completely dependent on Russia's whims, quickly ceases to be a romantic adventure. Just like as in a chain reaction when one event launches a series of following events, the fates of the protagonists are intertwined with the course of history.

Polish films are valued in Leipzig. Every year, there are at least of couple of Polish productions in the festival’s programme, and as many as fifteen films were invited to this year’s edition of the festival: nine documentary and six animated films. In recent years, Polish films won several awards in Leipzig. In 2008, the Golden Dove award went to “Till It Hurts” by Marcin Koszałka. In 2009, “Chemo” by Paweł Łoziński was given the MDR award, and “17 August” by Aleksander Gutman - special mention in the short film competition. 2010 brought even more awards. Golden Dove went to the film “Vodka Factory” by Jerzy Śladkowski and in the short film category - to “A Piece of Summer” by Marta Minorowicz. The film “North from Calabria” by Marcin Sauter won at the 53rd DOK.Leizpig the ecumenical award and the trade union award ver.di. In 2011, the Silver Dove went to “Argentinian Lesson” by Wojciech Staroń, and “Phnom Penh Lullaby” by Paweł Kloc was given the special mention in the Young Talent Competition. Last year, the documentary film “Joanna” by Aneta Kopacz won the Prize of the Youth Jury.

The full list of the award-winning films at the DOK Leipzig Festival can be found here.

We would also like to encourage you to read a discussion about the complicated Abkhazian-Russian-Georgian relations depicted in “Domino Effect” on the website of Kultura Liberalna.