SILVER CITY

The first woman to emerge in Australian filmmaking after Gillian Armstrong, Sophia Turkiewicz graduated from film school there and was awarded a grant to study directing in Poland, where she studied with Wajda and Zanussi. Her short film, “Letter From Poland,” deals with migrants and tragic relationships, a theme further explored in her first feature film, SILVER CITY. Turkiewicz was born in Rhodesia and migrated to Australia at the age of 3 with her Polish parents. SILVER CITY is an affecting love story that is a partly biographical account of the experience of refugees transported to Australia after World War II. The title refers to the young immigrants' ironic name for the huge camp made of iron huts in which they are temporarily housed. There Nina (Gosia Dobrowolska) has a secret love affair with a fellow Pole, Julian (Ivor Kants), who is married to her friend, Anna (Anna Jemison, of “Smash Palace”). Nina and Julian briefly live together before their passionate affair's sad end. The racist and sexist prejudices of Australian society, bred by years of isolation, make life outside the camp difficult, but 12 years later, Nina has achieved her goals. Meeting Julian again, she finds his lot little changed and their love still an impossible one.”. . .An extremely handsome production. . .top quality. . .beautifully handled. Gosia Dobrowolska looms as a major discovery and has some of the qualities of Hanna Schygulla.” -Variety