The Polish film 'Nikifor' stole the show at the 40th Karlovy Vary Film Festival this week in the Czech Republic.
The film tells the 'true life tale' of a curious figure in Polish twentieth century art, Nikifor Krynicki, a deaf, self-taught artist who scraped a living in the pre-war spa town in which he grew up.
The role of the aging Nikifor was in fact played by a woman, eighty year old Krystyna Feldman. Her arresting performance won the gong for Best Actress. Director Krzysztof Krauze also picked up the prize for best director, not forgetting the cherry on the cake - the Grand Prix for Best Film.
All things considered it was one of the best days for Polish Film in many years. Whilst many of Poland's leading directors were engaged in a constant battle with the censors during the Communist era, Polish film has suffered something of a crisis in recent years. The funding dried up, and with the old enemy swept away, film directors struggled to find new paths.
Cynics may hold that the triumph of Nikifor is but a flash in the pan, yet at the very least the victory offers a source of pride and inspiration to the Polish film world, which in the past has given us such outstanding talents as Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieslowski.
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