International Documentary Film Festival "Cinema Vérité" is organised by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center – organisation dedicated to production, distribution and promotion of documentary, feature, animated and experimental films. The seventh edition of the festival took
The winner of the International Competition of Fulllength Documentaries this year is the film “Abu Haraz” directed by Maciej Drygas. Another Polish film appreciated at the festival was “Father and son” by Paweł Łoziński, which was awarded with the Special Jury Award.
"Abu Haraz" is a film about the inhabitants of a small village located among the deserts of Northern Sudan. Building a powerful dam on the Nile clashes with the immemorial, natural rhythm of life led by the local population. The filmmakers spent several years with the inhabitants of Abu Haraz, watching their urgent attempts at turning back the course of history.
The eponymous protagonists of the film “Father and son” are Marcel and Paweł Łoziński, who set out on car journey throughout Europe. For the father, it is the return to the place of his birth, and for the son – the attempt at settling their common past. Both try to record this difficult dialogue with their cameras.
The organizers and jury of “Cinema Verite” particularly value Polish documentary cinema. In the competition section of this year’s festival, as many as eight Polish films were shown. Apart from “Abu Haraz” and “Father and son,” the audience in Iran had a chance to watch the following films: ”Loneliness of Sound” by Jacek Piotr Bławut, “My House without Me” by Magdalena Szymków, “Mother 24/7” by Marcin Janos Krawczyk, “Rogalik” by Paweł Ziemilski, ”The Palace” by Tomasz Wolski and "Jorcait" by Zuzanna Solakiewicz.
It is also worth adding that in the previous years Polish films also were among the festival’s award winners. Last year, the documentary "Tonia and her children" by Marcel Łoziński won the main prize in the International Competition of Mid-Length Documentaries. In 2010 ”Chemo” by Paweł Łoziński and “Mother” by Jakub Piątek were honoured with the highest laurels of the festival – each in his own category.
More information about the festival can be found at its website.