The Queen of Silence
DIRECTOR Agnieszka Zwiefka COUNTRIES: Germany, Poland YEAR: 2014 LANGUAGE(S): Romani, Polish SUBTITLES: German RUNNING TIME: 80 min
SECTION: Open Eyes 2015
Recommended from 5th grade upwards
SYNOPSIS
Denisa, a 10-year-old Roma, is both queen and outsider at the same time. She grows up in Poland in degrading circumstances. She is deaf and has never learned to speak. The informal settlement where she lives is due to be torn down. But the courageous girl has a broad smile that she carries with her through life. She has a passion for dance and the glamour of Bollywood films. She creates her own happy world and turns the bare Roma camp into a glittering Bollywood spectacle. A film document about a piece of childhood between poverty, exclusion and sheer joie de vivre!
Das zehnjährige Roma-Mädchen Denisa ist Königin und Außenseiterin zugleich. Irgendwo in Polen wächst sie in menschenunwürdigen Verhältnissen auf. Sie ist gehörlos, sprechen hat sie nie gelernt. Die provisorische Siedlung, in der sie lebt, soll abgerissen werden. Und doch schlägt sich das mutige Mädchen mit einem breiten Lächeln durch den harten Alltag. Ihre größte Leidenschaft ist das Tanzen und die Glitzerwelt der Bollywood-Filme. Damit schafft sie sich ihre eigene Welt und verwandelt das karge Roma-Lager in ein schillerndes Bollywood-Spektakel. Ein filmisches Dokument über ein Stück Kindheit zwischen Armut, Ausgrenzung und absoluter Lebensfreude!
AGNIESZKA ZWIEFKA
Director, producer Agnieszka Zwiefka has cooperated with TVP as an author of various awarded TV programs and short documentary forms for over 12 years. In 2007 she obtained her PhD in new media and has worked as a lecturer of television journalism and interactive films at the University of Wroclaw ever since. In 2010 she has established Chilli Productions which focuses on creative documentaries. THE QUEEN OF SILENCE is her feature-length debut.
FILMOGRAPHY
Albert Cinema (2013), Die Königin der Stille (2014)
SCRIPT: Agnieszka Zwiefka PRODUCERS: Heino Deckert, Agnieszka Zwiefka, Iris Pakulla CAMERA: Aleksander Duraj, Armand Urbaniak EDITORS: Thomas Ernst, Hansjörg Weissbrich MUSIC: Jessica de Rooij, Coco Rosie, Dani Printul Banatului
PRODUCTION: Ma.ja.de Film, Chilli Productions WORLD SALES: Ina Rossow, Deckert Distribution