Roma poet movie up for Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
10.06.2013 12:37
A feature film about legendary Polish Roma poet Papusza has qualified for the main competition of the 48th Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
Jowita Budnik as Papusza. Image: next-film
Jointly directed by Krzysztof Krauze and his wife Joanna Kos-Krauze, Papusza explores the bittersweet fate of the poet, who became the first Roma writer to be translated into Polish, but was banished by the community she grew up in.
The film is one of 14 international features set to compete for the coveted Crystal Globe in the Czech spa town, and this year the jury is being chaired by acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland (In Darkness).
Papusza (Bronislaw Wajs under her Polish name) was born in 1908, and was discovered by writer Jerzy Ficowski, who lived with the Roma for a time after the Second World War.
After Poland introduced a law in 1950, bringing about the forced settlement of the Roma, she fell out of favour with her fellow Roma, and spent some time in a mental asylum.
Krzysztof Krauze won widespread acclaim for his 2004 movie My Nikifor, about the late naive artist Nikifor Krynicki.
The 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens on 28 June. (nh)