Papusza

Festivals are all about discovering films like Papusza, an historical epic in black and white which deals with Romany gypsy poet Bronislawa Wajs, who died in 1987.

Managing for the most part to avoid the clichés of portraying the gypsy milieu, it has the stamp of authenticity as the directors (the husband and wife team of Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze) examine Papusza (stunningly portrayed by Jowita Budnik) at various stages in her life.

She was the first Roma poet to have verses published in magazines and school books but her evocative writing made her unpopular with her own community and she was cast out.

Papusza did not seek fame and fortune – she merely wanted to record her experiences and feelings, most of them written on scraps of paper.

As well as the central focus on the woman herself the film provides a poignant portrait of the travelling people in Poland before the Second World War and its aftermath when they were forced to abandon their nomadic existence.

The structure of the narrative with confusing time jumps is unnecessarily laborious and should been simplified. Yet it still has the power to move the emotions and rivet the attention.