Renowned Polish documentarian Wojciech Staron pocketed the Jury Prize for Best Cinematographer of the 19th Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn. Wojciech Staron’s work on the Latvian-Estonian-Polish co-production “Dawn”, which had its world premiere as part of the Main Competition in Tallinn, was his first cooperation with the Latvian film director and screenwriter Laila Pakalniņa.
Wojciech Staron’s highest achievement so far has been the Silver Bear of the 2011 Berlinale Competition for his work on Paula Markovitch’s film “El Premio”.
“Dawn” is based on a Soviet propaganda story about Young Pioneer (the Soviet equivalent of a Boy Scout) Morozov, who denounced his father to Stalin’s secret police and was in turn killed by his family. His life exemplified the duty of all good Soviet citizens to become informers, at any expense. In the film, 75 years later, he’s called little Janis. He is a pioneer who lives on the Soviet collective farm “Dawn”. His father is an enemy of the farm (and the Soviet system) and plots against it. Little Janis betrays his father; his father takes revenge upon his son. Who then in this old Soviet tale is good and who is bad? This film reveals that a distorted brain is always dangerous. Even nowadays.