Silver

Natalia Koniarz / Poland, Finland, Norway / 2025 / International Premiere / 79 min.

synopsis

An unvarnished look at life in Bolivia's highest silver mine, located in the middle of a desolate landscape. Miners live here with their families, and their entire lives are tied to working in the mine and searching for silver veins in endless masses of gray rock. The work is physically exhausting, destroys their health, and at the same time brings constant psychological pressure—death can come at any time. Children learn at school how to defend themselves against thieves who steal silver at night, murder, and rape, and whose victims include small children. In such a reality, almost anything can be a source of support, including unwavering spirituality. The film is also told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy who, in addition to attending school, is already learning the ropes in the mine: his small hands grip the tools as he realizes that a different fate is unlikely to await him. Playing with chickens or sledding on gravel become his only joys. Visually stunning shots of the lunar landscape contrast with the gravity of its inhabitants' existence. The film speaks of colonialism as the foundation of European wealth and criticizes its devastating impact on the generations whose labour paid for that prosperity.

“Silence! Here rest the men who left their lungs in the mines.”

biography

Documentary director and screenwriter Natalia Koniarz (b. 1996) lives between Warsaw and London. She is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Her work has been influenced by her long stay in South America during the pandemic.

film details

director:	Natalia Koniarz
producer:	Maciej Kubicki
script:	Natalia Koniarz
photography:	Stanislaw Cuske
editing:	Yael Bitton
music:	Yngve Leidulv Saetre
sound design:	Marcin Lenarczyk
co-producer:	Torstein Grude Ruwê Yuxinawá, Ikka Vehkalahti
executive producer:	Paweł Pawlikowski