MIFF 2026, 3: Polish Silver bags Indian Gold
MIFF 2026, 3: Polish Silver bags Indian Gold
Well, I am making a jump cut. While the festival was on, the choice was between writing reports and watching films. The main screening venues are far from my home, and it takes 3 hours to go there and return, two-way. Also, I must allow for lunch and tea breaks. Nevertheless, I try to catch-up as many films as possible. All this leaves very little time to write about the festival and the films. So I had to postpone all my coverage to the day after the festival gets over. It got over yesterday, and here is the first of the continuing instalments. It begins with my sighting of fellow film-critic and journalist, and the Polish films package that he has helped bring to MIFF 2026.
His name is Murtuza Ali Khan, and he has Delhi-based. I spotted him at MIFF, but he was too far for me to greet him. The second time I saw him was when he was sitting in glass cabin, with his back to me. I sent him a WhatsApp message. He replied, “Can I call you later?” I replied, “No need to call back. Just turn around, and you will see me outside the cabin." He turned around, and we greeted each other symbolically. Later we met, and he expressed surprise at my being able to recognise him from his back! He told me that he is here with the Polish delegation. I shared with him that I like Polish films, have seen many good ones, since 1976, and my encounter with Poland’s famed director Zanussi and actress Maya Komorowska (now 88), some 50 years ago. He said, “I would like you to narrate that anecdote to my Polish team.” But that did not happen, due to lack of time. But what did happen was sensational.
At the awards ceremony, held at Ravindra Natya Mandir, central Mumbai, the same venue where the festival was inaugurated, the last prize to be announced was the biggest, in the common style of ascending order. It was, I think, the 17th prize to be announced. And it made the day, for the Polish delegation and Murtuza. The suspense, about which film will win the award for the Best Documentary, in the International Competition section, ended with the word, “Silver.” Polish film Silver won the top honour at the 19th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), 2026. The prize, awarded for the Best International Documentary Film, consists of a Golden Conch trophy, a cash prize of ₹10 lakh (Ten Lakh, or one million, Indian Rupees), and a certificate. The Cash Prize is shared equally between the director(s) and the producer(s) of the winning film, while the Trophy is awarded to the director(s) only. Silver is produced by Maciej Kubicki and written and directed by Natalia Koniarz. Silver was recognised for its powerful storytelling and cinematic craft.
The award was presented at the Ravindra Natya Bhawan, Mumbai, by the Jishnu Dev Varma, Governor of Maharashtra State, of which Mumbai is the capital, and received by Ms. Malgorzata Wejsis Golebiak, Director of the Polish Institute, New Delhi, on behalf of the director and team. Silver has been recognised for its powerful storytelling and cinematic craft. Like almost all the prize-winning films, I had not seen Silver either. Just my luck.
From various sources, I gather that Silver portrays the fate of families - mothers, fathers, and children - living in extreme poverty, and working in a Bolivian silver mine, Cerro Rico. This mountain is known locally as "the mountain that devours men." Cerro Rico is a vast network of tunnels where generations have sacrificed their health and lives, once for the glory of the Spanish crown, now for the profit of equally ruthless corporations. The ground above stretches a city held together by makeshift rules, where greed, corruption, and chaos reign. Natalia Koniarz tells her story through the eyes of a 12-year-old Juvi. Children are taught at an early age, preparing them for mining in the “cherished mountain”, in which they are, soon, expected to start working. Hours of back-breaking toil, almost without any protection, spent on looking for desired silver, often end in permanent disability or even death. The lethal image of the mountain, an underground hell, doesn't seem to bother wealthy tourists, who explore its interior and post reels on social media, which would be impossible to do, if it weren't for the silver mined there.
28 year-old Natalia Koniarz studied direction at the Krzysztof Kieślowski film school, University of Silésie. Her previous work comprises East-West, The Dam, and Postcards from the Verge, all short films. Silver is her first long documentary, running for 79 minutes. Over the years, Natalia's films have won 20 awards and 8 nominations.
Silver’s producer, Maciej Kubicki, is a creative producer, with a story-editing background. A graduate of the Wajda School, he works as a producer for Telemark, where he develops ideas for creative documentaries, premium TV series and innovative feature forms. He is currently producing two documentaries, Over the Limit by Marta Prus, and The Wind by Michał Bielawski. Kubicki is a writer-producer of the second season of The Pact, an HBO Europe feature TV series.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AtNzUeQHARE
P.S.: Murtuza told me that the Polish Institute is celebrating Andrzej Wajda’s centenary in this part of the world. Wajda, a favourite among Indian cineastes, was introduced to Indian audiences by his 1958 film, Ashes and Diamonds, and its follow-up, Innocent Sorcerers (1960). Later, he would be acknowledged worldwide for Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Wajda Retrospective in a later instalment.
