The variety and quality of the movies make the festival one of the biggest and most interesting film events in Australia appreciated both by film critics and audience. It's a "must be" place for everyone who loves cinema.
Apart from the official program the organizers prepared special events that will accompany the screenings.
"War Games and The Man Who Stopped Them " will be shown July 25th and 28th in Documentary Section (Docs).
Official festival website //www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/
"War Games and The Man Who Stopped Them" is 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. Was he a traitor, or the savior of Poland? The Polish documentary filmmaker Dariusz Jabłoński begins his story of the colonel in 2004, when he was supposed to interview him for the very first time. It turns out that Kukliński has just died, and at the request of the colonel's wheelchair-bound wife, Jabłoński agrees to take care of his ashes. He 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, and former Polish President Lech Wałęsa. These interviews paint a picture of an idealistic man who saved Europe from a Third World War, but who also led a tragic life.
"War Games and The Man Who Stopped Them" has been invited by numerous international festivals. As the first Polish film opened the biggest documentary film festival IDFA 2009 in Amsterdam. The film was selected for Hot Docs in Toronto, Dok.fest in Munich, Norwegian Short Film Festival as well as was shown in French-German TV ARTE and Polish Television as a 5 - episode series. "War Games" were also invited to be shown at special screenings around the Europe.
"War Games and The Man Who Stopped Them" was produced by Apple Film Production, in co-production with Polish Televison S.A., ARTE, Trigon Production. Financially supported by Polish Film Institute, Ministry of Culture in Slovakia, MEDIA Programme.
