THE MINE

GRUBA

A portrait of three women of different ages who work in the same place. Coal sorting in the Rydułtowy Hard Coal Mine is a tough way to earn a living, yet the protagonists show a lot of spirit. Unfortunately, their everyday struggle is not limited to coal sorting only but involves the most down-to-earth matters, too, such as fighting with clerks to have toilets cleaned in the women’s workplace. Sometimes, their only weapon is a sense of dignity and a sense of humour.

  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: Poland
  • Running time: 59
  • Year: 2017
  • Color: kolorowy

Director: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz

Script: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz

DOP: Marcin Ściegliński

Editing: Agnieszka Kowalczyk

Sound: Maciej Kaliński

Production company: ATM GRUPA SA

About the director:

Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz

Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz

Director of several dozen documentaries and TV theatre plays who has won numerous awards. She graduated from Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław and from Film Directing at the Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia. The documentaries "I Am a Man" (1986) and "The Office" (1986) won her renown, in particular the latter one was showered with awards. For years, she has created film portraits of famous Poles, including Leszek Kołakowski, Czesław Miłosz and Jerzy Grotowski. Among her other well-known documentaries were: "Gdańsk Railway Station" (2008) and the biographical documentary "Wiera Gran" (2011). She is a lecturer at the Directing Department of the Film School in Łódź.

At festivals:

57. Krakow Film Festival, Poland, 2017 (competition)

Al Este Del Lima, Peru, 2018 (screening)