FrontDoc is an international festival dedicated to documentary films which cross the boundaries: cultural, political, social or geographical ones. This year, the documentary film "Casa Blanca" was shown at the festival. The film by Aleksandra Maciuszek was given the Young Jury Prize for the best feature-length documentary film.
The eponymous "Casa Blanca" is a small fishing village on the Bay of Havana. Nelsa (76) and her son Vladimir (37), suffering from the Down's syndrome, share a small room in an overcrowded multi-family tenement house. Vladimir is the sole guardian of the ailing Nelsa, Nelsa – the only guardian of Vladimir, who easily gets into trouble.
Their life is characterised by conflicts: the woman tries to control the son, while he, rather than being with his mother, prefers to spend time with the fishermen, helping them in their work, frolicking and drinking rum. Every day, Nelsa has to traverse the streets of Casa Blanca in search of her only son, who does not return home until late. One day, the woman's heath deteriorates…
The full list of the award-winning films can be found here.