18-01-2009

Controversial Polish documentary hits cinemas

By Katarzyna Grynienko
    War Games, the long awaited documentary from director Dariusz Jabłoński about Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, one of the most controversial figures in Polish contemporary history, opens in Polish cinemas on January 23rd.
    {mosimage}Kukliński was a part of headquater's staff in the Warsaw Pact, which allowed him to smuggle over 40,000 pages of secret documents to the CIA and change the course of Cold War. The Americans call him a hero, the Russians a traitor, and Poles are divided in their opinions, making his case still one of the most burrning topics in Polish history and politics.

    War Games (www.war-games.pl), is praised as an impressive documentary which took five years of extensive research and work on part of several experts discovering previously unknown documents connected to case presented for the fist time in this film. The work took the filmmakers to the USA, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, and Belgium. The movie combines archives materials, 2D and 3D animation, feature film footage, and interviews with Kukliński's co-workers, firends, experts in history and politics, and, for the first time, his wife.

    Jabłoński, who previously earned praise for his meticulous documentary Photographer, heads Apple Film Productions (www.applefilm.pl), which produced War Games.. "The movie was realized with a total budget of 3.9 million PLN (€917,000)," Izabela Wójcik, a producer from Apple Film told FNE. The Polish Film Institiute PFI (www.pisf.pl) granted War Games €96 000 for production. The movie is a co-production with Polish PTV, ARTE, and Trigon Production, with support from the Slovak Ministry of Culture and the EU Media Program.

    The American premiere of the movie took place on December 11, 2008, at the CIA headquarters in Langley, VA, preceded by a closed screening for active CIA agents. The premiere in Langley was accompanied by a discussion panel devoted to Ryszard Kukliński and his role in the Cold War, with praise for the film coming from CIA Chief Michael Hayden.

    Apple Film Production

    Bagatela 10/12

    00-585, Warsaw

    (+48) 22 851 84 40-3

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    Credits:

    Director Dariusz Jabłoński

    Scriptwriter Dariusz Jabłoński

    Producer Dariusz Jabłoński

    Produers Violetta Kamińska, Izabela Wójcik

    Co-producer Patrik Pass

    Photos Tomsz Michałowski

    Montage Milenia Fiedler, Bartosz Pietras

    Sound Bartłomiej Woźniak

    Music Michał Lorenc

    Production Apple Film Production

    Co-production Polish PTV, ARTE, Trigon Production

    Co-funding Polish Film Institute, Slovak Ministry of Culture, with the support of EU Media Program

    110', 35 mm, Dolby Digital