NATALIA KONIARZ’S “SILVER” WINS THE GRAND JURY PRIZE IN PORTO
Natalia Koniarz’s “Silver” has received another major international award. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 15th Family Film Project in Porto. The jury praised the documentary for its powerful portrayal of life in the silver mines of Bolivia’s Cerro Rico, highlighting both the perspective of children and its outstanding visual language, which draws viewers into a seemingly distant reality that nevertheless remains closely connected to the contemporary world.
The Family Film Project took place in Porto from 12 to 17 October. The festival focuses on cinema exploring archive, memory and ethnography, while also embracing works situated at the intersection of documentary, experimental and performative practices.
The international journey of Natalia Koniarz’s feature-length documentary debut began in Krakow. “Silver” had its world premiere at the 65th Krakow Film Festival, where it received, among others, the Silver Horn, the FIPRESCI Award, the Audience Award and the Maciej Szumowski Award, while Stanisław Cuske was honoured for cinematography. The film was also recommended by KFF for the European Film Awards.
Since then, “Silver” has steadily built an impressive international profile. At the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, it won the main Opus Bonum Award for Best World Documentary, the award for Best Documentary from the Visegrad Region, as well as another cinematography prize for Stanisław Cuske. The film later received the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival, the Best Director Award in the Baltic Focus competition at Artdocfest/Riga, the Little Stamp Award and a Special Mention at ZagrebDox, as well as The Golden Conch, the top prize at the Mumbai International Film Festival. Its growing list of accolades also includes the Special Jury Prize at FIFALP, the Jury Prize at the Trento Film Festival, and an award for Best Cinematography at the Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea.
The film has also screened at numerous festivals across Europe and beyond, including Tallinn Black Nights, Bergen International Film Festival, One World in Prague, Beldocs, Doxumentale, DocsMX and Docudays UA. The scale of its international festival presence demonstrates how strongly “Silver” continues to resonate with audiences and juries around the world.
“Silver” takes viewers deep into Cerro Rico, the Bolivian mountain that has been associated with silver mining for centuries. Through the everyday lives of people living in the shadow of the mines, the film reflects on the legacy of colonialism, social exclusion and mechanisms of exploitation that remain part of contemporary reality. Stanisław Cuske’s evocative cinematography not only creates an intense visual experience, but also reveals a world in which the exploitation of natural resources remains inseparable from the exploitation of people.
“Silver” is a Polish-Finnish-Norwegian co-production. The film’s Polish producer is Maciej Kubicki of Telemark, while its international festival distribution is handled by KFF Sales.