Out of the frame: MY NIKIFOR

“My Nikifor” Directed by Krzysztof Krauze Poland, 2004, 96 minutes

Based on the authentic events of the last years of the life of Nikifor (1895-1968), a painter ranked among the five most outstanding primitivists in the world. Nikifor, actually Epiphanius Drowniak, was despised, misunderstood and ridiculed for most of his life. In Krynica he was mistaken, he aroused fear or laughter. In 1960, his fate intersects with Marian Włosiński, a young artist. Włosiński initially wants to get rid of the intrusion, but as he gets to know him better, he discovers his genius. He abandons his own painting ambitions, and the meaning of his life becomes the care of Nikifor. Caring for a patient with tuberculosis, babbling and annoying, and uniting a brilliant primitivist, is for Marian Włosiński a kind of life commitment, a dedication to art, which he fulfills at the expense of his own work and family. Painting pictures of Krzysztof Ptak. Krystyna Feldman, the master of episodes in the main role of life. The film has the status of one of the most unusual and most awarded Polish films, arousing the delight of audiences all over the world.