Barburka

Only 15 years have passed since, with the end of the communist era, traditional songs like this miner’s anthem could be played again, but already more and more people in the Polish city of Bytom, Upper Silesia, are finding good luck hard to come by. December 4th is Barburka: St. Barbara’s day, a fortnight of festivities for miners in honour of their patron saint. But a growing number of people have nothing to celebrate. Risking their lives stealing coal from trains or scrap metal from factory ruins, the history of an entire region is now sold for a few coins. Upper Silesia was once one of Europe’s richest coal regions, but the industry is now on the verge of collapse. Three quarters of jobs will be lost – numbers which mask the personal stories told in Barburka. We hear the accounts of miners, their widows, and those trying to find a new life outside the mining community. Sensitively shot in near monochrome, this film tells an important piece of Polish-German history. (DOK.fest München)