This is not merely a film about miners. It is a story about the place where modern global trade and globalization were born. The multi-award-winning documentary “Silver,” directed by Natalia Koniarz, is cinema that delights with maturity, hypnotizes with the cinematography of Stanisław Cuske, and moves the audience with the creators’ extraordinary empathy. The film is now available in cinemas – it is a picture that demands to be seen on the big screen.
We encourage you to watch the fascinating conversation with the director in the “Culture for the Weekend” (Kultura na Weekend) series by Polityka weekly (watch video below). Editor Janusz Wróblewski speaks with Natalia Koniarz about the behind-the-scenes of the production, professional risk, and the ethics of a documentarian.
Although “Silver” focuses on the fates of specific individuals, a grand, often forgotten history pulses in the background. Bolivian Potosi is a place both magical and tragic. As noted in the interview, this is where the heart of the modern economy beats. In the 16th century, Potosi was one of the largest cities in the world and the “cradle of global capitalism.”
Potosí: The Mountain That Created the Global Market
At one point, up to 80 percent of the world’s silver came from the interior of the Cerro Rico mountain. It was there that the famous “pieces of eight” were minted – silver coins that became the first currency accepted virtually worldwide. This was the beginning of globalization as we know it.
The price of this wealth, however, was terrifying. The interview cites a harrowing metaphor illustrating the scale of exploitation upon which Europe’s power was founded:
“Over these few centuries of exploitation, as many as 8 million people died. Such a quantity of silver was extracted that it would be enough to build a bridge connecting Bolivia with the Iberian Peninsula. And the same amount of bones of people who died during the extraction of these deposits could be laid into such a huge, gigantic bridge.”
Watch the full interview between Janusz Wróblewski and Natalia Koniarz below. You can enable automatically generated English subtitles on YouTube.
Tenderness in the Darkness and Visual Poetry
“Silver” is a film that, despite its difficult subject matter, avoids mere reportage in favor of high-caliber artistic cinema. Huge credit goes to Stanisław Cuske, the director of photography. His work has been recognized with awards at the Krakow Film Festival and the prestigious Ji.hlava festival in the Czech Republic, among others. Cuske is able to extract painterly beauty from the darkness of the mine, creating images that remain in the memory for a long time. That is why it is so important to experience this film in cinema conditions.
Equally important is the attitude of the director herself. Natalia Koniarz approaches her protagonists with extraordinary tenderness and maturity. Instead of judging or exploiting suffering, she builds a relationship based on trust. In the interview, she emphasizes how important it was for her not to cross ethical boundaries:
“I felt that I had no right to identify with the protagonist. I felt that I owed it to these people on the ground. I have an internal conviction that it shouldn’t be this way, that we shouldn’t feel we can identify with a boy who is fighting for his life like that. Imagining that life there is almost impossible for us.”
From Chance to Nomination
The story of the film’s creation is as remarkable as its content. Koniarz and Cuske ended up in Bolivia almost by chance. The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 trapped them in South America.
“The whole world found out there was a pandemic. (…) It turned out we had to stay. Actually, it turned out we couldn’t go back. For a year and a half, we lived in South America in a tent, moving around on bicycles,” recalls the director.
This forced stay resulted in seven months spent underground with miners, in conditions of extreme risk. The director recalls a blood-curdling situation with a breaking rope on which the cameraman was hanging: “It was probably the longest 6 minutes of my life. (…) There is a rule there that the rope is never replaced until it breaks.”
Today, this effort is paying off. The film has been recognized by the Guild of Polish Directors, receiving a nomination for one of the most important industry awards. Natalia Koniarz found herself in this group alongside such masters of cinema as Agnieszka Holland (Franz Kafka), Magnus von Horn (The Girl with the Needle), and Wojciech Smarzowski (Dom dobry).
Join us in cinemas and for the meetings with the director!
“Silver” is currently in theatrical distribution (find your cinema). Do not miss the opportunity to see this visually thrilling documentary on the big screen.
We especially invite you to a special screening combined with a meeting with the director:
- ŁÓDŹ: November 27 (Thursday), 6:00 PM – National Centre for Film Culture (Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej). Buy a ticket.
Awards and distinctions for “Silver”:
- Silver Horn for the director of a film of high artistic merit (for Natalia Koniarz) – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- FIPRESCI International Film Critics Award – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- Audience Award – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- Maciej Szumowski Award, sponsored by the Polish Society of Authors ZAiKS, for exceptional sensitivity to social issues – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- Award for the Best Producer of Polish Documentary and Short Films (for Maciej Kubicki (TELEMARK)) – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- Polish Cinematographers’ Association (PSC) Award for Best Cinematography (for Stanisław Cuske) – 65th Krakow Film Festival
- Krakow Film Festival Recommendation for the European Film Awards
- Award for Best Film in the Opus Bonum Competition – Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Ji.hlava IDFF)
- Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe Award – Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Ji.hlava IDFF)
- Award for Best Cinematography (for Stanisław Cuske) – Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Ji.hlava IDFF)
- Nomination for the Krzysztof Krauze Award of the Polish Directors Guild (for Natalia Koniarz)
- Golden Frog Nomination for Best Cinematography at the Camerimage Festival (for Stanisław Cuske)
Disclaimer: This content has been translated automatically.