After being presented- for the first time in the history of Polish cinematography- as the opening film of the most prestigious documentary festival IDFA 2009 in Amsterdam last November, this Spring "War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them" will be screened at two international documentary film festivals: HOT DOCS in Toronto, Canada and DOK. FEST in Munich, Germany.
HOT DOCS, one of the largest documentary festivals in the world and definitely the largest one in North America, showcasing the selection of the last year's best productions. It takes place in Toronto, lasting for 11 days between April 29th- May 9th and presenting about 170 films from over 35 countries worldwide. "War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them" is included in the World Showcase section, which is of great interest to the public as an interesting overview of the production of documentaries from around the world.
DOK. FEST international documentary film festival in Munich that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year is traditionally a place to go for the best German and international documentaries. The goal of the festival committee is to present films of high artistic value, that are also socially engaged. "War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them" will be screened in the main section, DOK. International, along the most remarkable productions from around the world.
"War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them" are a uniquely constructed portrait of the Polish Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, who provided the CIA with more than 40,000 strategic documents from the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. The Polish documentary filmmaker Dariusz Jabłoński talks with a considerable number of closely involved ex-servicemen - from the U.S. head of espionage General William E. Odom to the Warsaw Pact Commander-in-Chief Viktor Kulikov, the Polish General Wojciech Jaruzelski, former Polish President Lech Wałęsa and a number of CIA agents who for the first time speak in front of a camera. The director used animation seen in computer games, which shows the military division of Europe during Cold War and the potential development of a global scale armed conflict.
For this film Dariusz Jablonski was awarded the Ignacy Paderewski Art & Music Award granted by the Pilsudski Institute of America, one of the most important Polish institutions abroad, which awards medals for outstanding achievements in the fields of history, literature, art, and for promoting Poland and Polish community abroad. Ceremony took place on November 6th, 2009 in New York. The Honorary Award Committee consists of Andrzej Wajda, Richard Watt - the author of "Bitter Glory," Norman Davies - well-known historian and writer, Tadeusz Gromada - history professor and president of the Polish Research Institute in New York, Rafal Olbinski - well-known painter and graphic artist, and Krzysztof W. Kasprzyk - Polish Consul General in New York.
"War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them" was produced by Apple Film Production, in co-production with TVP S.A., ARTE, Trigon Production. Co-financing: Polish Film Institute, Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with BBC, with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
www.war-games.pl
