"Sieniawka" Wins in Duisburg

Sieniawka, a film by Marcin Malaszczak, received the ARTE Award at the 37th Duisburger Filmwoche (Duisburg Film Week), which closed on November 10. The film’s international promotion is supported by the Polish Film Institute.

ARTE Award for Sieniawka

Organized annually since the 1970s, the Duisburg Film Week showcases German-language documentary films. The top two awards at the event are sponsored by ARTE and 3SAT. This year’s jury members Annegret Deupmann, Lars Henriksson, Markus Heinbach, Stefan Mays, Rosa Menges, Marianne Neumann, Petra Müller, and Claus Schmerfeld presented the ARTE Award to Sieniawka, a Polish-German co-production written, directed and lensed by Marcin Malaszczak.

An Exceptional Film

“Even though it focuses on people on the margins of society, it’s not a ‘problem film’ […]. This exceptional film shifts the parameters of perception, […] opening [a] space in which everything seems possible […] and the boundaries between documentary and fiction, between past and present, are not only redrawn, but become meaningless,” reads the jury statement.

Previous Screenings in Berlin and Marseille

Made using video-art aesthetics, Sieniawka is the story of a journey into the ‘irrational subconscious of humanity’, according to the film’s official website. Stefan (Stefan Szyszka) attempts to make his way through a post-industrial no-man’s land. Sieniawka was produced by Michel Balagué, Marcin Malaszczak, Georg Tiller, and Andreas Louis (DFFB). This Polish-German co-production was supported by the Polish Film Institute. Sieniawka previously screened at a number of festivals, including the 63rd Berlin IFF. The film also received the award for best first documentary at the FID International Film Festival in Marseille.

Further details about the 37th Duisburg Film Week are available at www.duisburger-filmwoche.de.

Marta Sikorska

Translated by Karolina Kołtun