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Wiera Gran | Wiera Gran – dir. Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, 2012

date: 29/07/2012 time: 18:30 place: Allianz Cinema film program: world under canvas film program: the audience poll artistic program: films

PL | 2012 | 67 min
reż|dir Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz prod|pro Agnieszka Traczewska scen|wr Agata Tuszyńska zdj|ph Ita Zbroniec-Zajt mon|ed Grażyna Gradoń ob|cast Agata Tuszyńska dys|dis SF Largo 

 

A story of Wiera Gran, a Polish singer and performer of numerous hits in the pre-war time, her life abounding with tragic events. The second heroine of the film is Agata Tuszyńska, a writer and the author of a biography “The Accused: Wiera Gran”. We accompany her on a journey and at meetings with guests when she is collating material for her book. Before that, the singer herself allowed Tuszyńska to pay her a visit while staying in Paris. Owing to that the film was supplemented with unique amateur photographs taken in the artist’s house. For many years Gran lived in a room where posters and press clippings on her subject would pile up, floor to ceiling. The starting point was not her works however, but allegation of her cooperating with the Germans during World War II. She would perform on regular basis in a cafe managed by the Nazi and located in the area of Warsaw ghetto. Despite the fact that  after the war all charges against her were dropped, until the end of her days she wrestled with being labelled a collaborator.

Awards
2012 Cracow Film Festival – entrant to the main competition, nominated for Golden Horn

Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz (1954)
One of the most renowned Polish documentary film-makers. In 1982 she graduated from Radio and Television Faculty at the University of Silesia in Katowice. She made approximately 50 films that were featured at various international festivals and awarded numerous prizes including Golden Dragon and Golden Hobby Horse for “Office” (1987) and the main prize at Cinéma du Réel Festival. In 2008 she received PhD degree in film art.