Minsk International Film Festival ‘Listapad’ has been organized since Belarus regained independence in 1994. One of the competitions of the festival is International Documentary section, this year 12 documentaries competed over the main award. Among productions from all over the world there were three Polish ones: ‘Brothers’, ‘Casa Blanca’ and ‘Call me Marianna’ by Karolina Bielawska. The Grand Prix went to Wojciech Staroń for his ‘Brothers’, making the documentary the best production of the festival.
The awarded documentary tells the story of two brothers who managed to escape Soviet work camp, but are now unable to escape from each other. They love but at the same time hate each other. One of them is an artist, the other one a pragmatic scientist.
The production was also acknowledged by the critics of Locarno Film Festival where it wonLa Semaine de la Critique Grand Prix, in Germany Golden Pigeon Award at the International Leipzig Festival – DOK Leipzig and during Trieste Film Festival where the documentary received HBO Europe Award.
Another Polish production taking part in the competition, ‘Casa Blanca’ by Aleksandra Maciuszek, received an honourable mention for artistic portrayal of handicapped people.
Casa Blanca, a forgotten fishing town situated at the entrance to the Havana Harbor. Nelsa, a 70-year-old woman paralyzed after a stroke, lives on the first floor of a large apartment house. She shares the lone room of the small flat with Vladimir, her 35-year-old son, affected with Down syndrome. The film presents a close, intimate picture of Vladimir and Nelsa’s days, fired by their meetings and partings, dependencies and bonds, moments of joy and moments of conflict. Those days will be marked by the contacts of the mother and son with Vladimir’s ‘adopted fathers’.
