Last night YouNxt along with Ekran hosted a reception in honour of the Polish films at this year’s Hot Docs (the Canadian International Documentary Festival)
The event took place at the posh Kultura restaurant in downtown Toronto.
On hand was Warsaw based Director Pawel Kloc of the much talked about Phnom Penh Lullaby as well as Toronto based filmmakers Natalia Kantor and Rafal Sokolowski.
After a hectic few days consisting of a royal weddings, Papal beatification, fugitive assassination and federal election, it’s time to take a deep breath and relax.
And what better way to do that than with a nice glass of wine and some good company.
On Wednesday, May 4, YouNxt and Ekran (the Toronto Polish Film Festival) are hosting a reception in honour of the Polish films at Hot Docs. We’ll also be celebrating local filmmaking talent.
Please join us, as well as the Director of Phnom Penh LullabyPawel Kloc and Toronto based filmmakers as we raise a toast.
The event will take place at the posh Kultura restaurant – one of Toronto’s best. If you haven’t been there, check out some photos below…
Date: Wednesday, May 4
Time: 7pm – 10pm
Location: Kultura Restaurant – 169 King St. E. Toronto
We’ve got our passes and our program guide and we’re ready to doc!
Hot Docs (the Canadian International Documentary Festival) kicks off tonight with POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold . This is the much talked about new film by director Morgan Spurlock (famous for his Oscar nominated Super Size Me doc in which he ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days)
There are nearly 200 documentaries from across the globe with topics as varied as Toronto’s diverse population.
It can be a little overwhelming trying to decide what to check out but that is also the fun part.
What makes festivals such as Hot Docs so great is that they are extremely social events. As you wait in line to pick up a program guide or to purchase tickets or grab a coffee, you naturally end up getting into a conversation about what’s on people’s “must see” radar.
Of course everyone has their opinions.
To make it a bit easier we’re including links to the TOP PICKS as selected by Toronto film writers:
Among the Hot Docs selection are 4 Polish films (2 features and 2 shorts) and we’re thrilled to say that both feature films have made the Toronto Star’s TOP 10 Festival picks. They are:
Synopsis: Hundreds of miles from the nearest town or tree, a smooth-faced young recruit arrives at his Arctic post. Here, etched somewhere into the endless white, is a border. The boy, Aleksey, joins five men, together charged with the absurd task of patrolling the invisible border for invisible enemies.
Through a crisp and unblinking lens, we watch as the gruff old soldiers, each a refugee from civilization in his own way, initiate the boy into their rigorous daily life. It’s a cold, hard routine, the discipline broken only by the occasional vodka and sad song.
Polish director Michal Marczak has assembled a formidable cast of characters in this breathtaking debut, both delicate and bold. At the Edge of Russia is a metaphorical portrait of a crumbled empire whose diligent men still busy themselves tracing meaning in the infinite white. Hot Docs
SCREENINGS:
Sat, April 30 – 6:30pm, Cumberland 2
Tue, May 3 – 1:15 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Fri, May 6 – 7pm, Cumberland 2
Synopsis: Among the many films that will spark discussion and debate in this year’s Festival is this intimate portrayal of the dysfunctional, sometimes disturbing, relationship between an alcoholic woman and her Israeli partner living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
She wants to get married and go to Israel, but he wants a new life, love and acceptance. Living on the margins, earning money by telling tourists’ fortunes, this fraught couple is also raising two young daughters. Drugs, crime and prostitution form the backdrop of their daily existence.
With his first feature, Polish director Pawel Kloc has chosen risky material and a potentially problematic approach. Yet the result is a gripping, formidable character drama with a climax as compelling and heartbreaking as any film this year, non-fiction or not. Hot Docs
SCREENINGS:
Mon, May 2 – 9:45pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Wed, May 4 – 4pm, Cumberland 2
Sun, May 8 – 5:45pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
We’ll be running a contest for Hot Docs tickets so tune back for details.
As many of you can attest – seeing a great documentary film can leave you inspired, speechless and amazed.
From April 28 to May 8 the world’s best documentary filmmakers will be in Toronto for Hot Docs – North America’s largest documentary film festival.
This year, Hot Docs will present an outstanding selection of over 190 docs from around the world.
As last year, YouNxt and Ekran (the Toronto Polish Film Festival) are delighted to be official co-presenters of the Polish films at Hot Docs.
On May 4th we will also be hosting a special reception in honour of the Polish films at Hot Docs as well as local filmmaking talent.
Kultura Restaurant
The event will take place at the decadently delicious Kultura restaurant. Save the date and help us raise a toast to the creative, and often difficult, efforts of those that bring breathtaking stories to our eyes.
There will be two Polish features and two shorts at Hot Docs 2011. The features include:
At the Edge of Russia (Dir. Michal Marczak)
Sat, April 30 – 6:30pm, Cumberland 2
Tue, May 3 – 1:15 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Fri, May 6 – 7pm, Cumberland 2
Hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, a young recruit arrives at his Arctic post, charged with an absurd task: patrolling the nothingness. A riveting portrait of silence, broken at times by vodka and sad song.
Phnom Penh Lullaby (Dir. Pawel Kloc)
Mon, May 2 – 9:45pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Wed, May 4 – 4pm, Cumberland 2
Sun, May 8 – 5:45pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Pushing the boundaries of documentary, this disturbing, highly compelling drama follows an Israeli man now living in Cambodia with his Khmer girlfriend and their two young daughters. A story from the fringes conveyed with an edge.
The two shorts films have both won numerous international awards. They are:
That’s Life (Dir. Daniel Zielinski)
Fri, April 29 – 9pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Sun, May 1 – 1pm, Cumberland 3
A middle-aged Polish man—the filmmaker’s retired father—selflessly and tenderly cares for his elderly mother. They live a quiet life in the solitude of the countryside. The son films his father and grandmother with a sensitive, impressionistic eye, but in conversation the father expresses frustration and loneliness. A family visit shows us why.
Out of Reach (Dir. Jakub Stozek)
Sun, May 1 – 11:30am, ROM Theatre
Tue, May 3 – 9:45 – The Royal Cinema
Young and headstrong, sisters Karolina and Natalia are realistic about their home life. Their domineering father may not take the best care of them, but they know any life with their mysteriously absent mother would surely be worse.
For ticket information please visit the Hot Docs website.
Over the next few days we will be showcasing these films in more detail so make sure to check out our blog regularly for updates.
We are very excited to be involved with Hot Docs once again and we are especially proud to collaborate with our good friends at Ekran in bringing these docs to you. We’re looking forward to some memorable cinematic stories and look forward to seeing you at the movies.
Director Dariusz Jablonski introduces his film at its Hot Docs premiere
If you haven’t already seen the documentary War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them then you’ve gotta see it.
On Friday nigh the film made its Hot Docs premiere to a packed house at the Royal Ontario Museum.
The film tells the story of a Polish spy (Colonel Ryszard Kukliński) who some believe prevented a nuclear holocaust by helping to avert WWIII. YouNxt did a full preview of this film so if you’d like to find out more have a read.
One of the first shots in the film is one in which an older Ryszard Kukliński attends a crowded ceremony at a special memorial. He is surrounded by a handful of heavily armed bodyguards. They stick to him like glue. The shot tells it all; this man is important and somebody wants him dead. It’s a fascinating introduction to a fascinating story.
This book cover captures the bodyguard scene shown in the film.
War Games is a film with universal consequences. Essentially, it lays the groundwork for a Cold War showdown between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces and explains exactly what a World War III scenario would have looked like. We then learn how the work of Ryszard Kukliński prevented all of this.
Director Dariusz Jablonski made the film in a very accessible way and so you never get lost in all the complexities of the Cold War. Throughout the story you learn bits of information that are completely captivating and facts that you might have never heard about. For instance, did you know that Polish soldiers were present during the war in Vietnam? They were and Kukliński was there too.
Director Dariusz Jablonski conducts a Q&A post film.
Director Dariusz Jablonski chats with members of the audience
In our third and final Hot Docs spotlight we look at the film War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them by Director Dariusz Jablonski. The film tells the story of a Polish spy who some believe prevented a nuclear holocaust by helping to avert WWIII.
The film Premiers on Friday May 7th at 6:45 pm at the ROM theatre and screens again on the 8th of May at 7pm at Cumberland 2. For ticket information visit the Hot Docs website or enter our contest to win tickets (please see the bottom of this post.)
Colonel Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński (1930-2004)
„In the past 40 years, no one in the World did more harm to the communism than this Pole”
— CIA director Wiliam Casey in a letter to the president Ronald Reagan.
War Games and the Man Who Stopped Themis a uniquely constructed portrait of the Polish Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, 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 Jablonski begins his story of the colonel in 2004, when he was supposed to interview him for the very first time. It turns out that Kuklinski has just died, and at the request of the colonel’s wheelchair-bound wife, Jablonski 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 Walesa.
These interviews paint a picture of an idealistic man who saved Europe from a Third World War, but who also led a tragic life. In addition to the extensive archive footage, Jablonski expounds on the initial meetings in voice-over, which he films with a small, often half-hidden camera. Subsequently, we see the official, tightly-framed interviews, over which he invariably employs an effect that suggests the shadow of Venetian blinds.
Photos of Kuklinski come to life with 3D motion effects, and the recurring theme of a war game calls on the viewer to actively pass judgment on Kuklinski’s choice.
Military ID of Colonel Ryszard Kukliński
Background Information:
In 1972, when Kukliński decided to make a contact with the CIA, he had had over twenty years of services in the ranks of the Polish Army, totally subordinated to political interests of the Soviets…
…For a nine long years of an intensive cooperation Kukliński handed over to Americans over 40 thousand of the top secret Warsaw Pact documents. The position he had in General Staff of Polish
Army had made him one of the most important sources of information that the western world had in the soviet block in the whole cold war era….
… After the Solidarity movement was created, Kukliński kept informing Washington about the next stages of preparation of introducing martial law. In November 1981, threatened by unmasking, he took his wife and sons and they were evacuated to Berlin. Three years later, in a secret court trial the Warsaw Military Court sentenced him to death. It was done without his presence at the trail…
… In 1990 the death sentence was changed into the sentence of 25 years in prison. Five years later the sentence was cancelled and the rank of colonel was restored to Kukliński. He visited Poland in 1998 but spent the last years of his life in the USA…
… Despite of awarding him with honorary Kraków and Gdańsk citizenship and burying his ashes at Person of Merit Avenue at Powązki Military Cemetary in Warsaw, colonel Kukliński’s case still stirs up controversy…
Antoni Dudek, historic consultant in the film
In Context:
Kukliński had access to details of Soviet plans for attacking and conquering Western Europe. These anticipated that Poland would be sacrificed as a buffer zone and would be expected to take from 400 to 600 nuclear hits from Western forces. He promoted an option for Polish army officers to collaborate with NATO to prevent this. Due to the de facto Soviet occupation and infiltration of Poland in communist times, Polish interests could only be promoted secretly at the time. It was for this reason that he approached the CIA on his own initiative.
Kukliński’s information had a major impact on NATO’s military plans in Europe, which were altered on the basis of his inputs and suggestions. These changes would have decreased the risk of the nuclear response on Poland in the event of planned Soviet invasion on Western Europe
Kukliński remains a very controversial figure for many Poles. Some consider him a national hero, some a traitor. Some are of the opinion that by revealing military plans to the Americans, he foiled a planned Soviet invasion of Poland in 1981 (resulting in the lesser evil of the martial law), and in this way may have helped prevent the start of a World War III.
This is difficult to judge, as the causes of the events surrounding the 1981 martial law are still hotly disputed by historians.
He died from a stroke at the age of 73 in a Tampa, Florida, hospital, in 2004. He was buried June 19, 2004 in the row of honour in the Powązki military cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, along with his son Waldemar. Source: Wikipedia
Ryszard Kuklinski Grave in the row of honour at the Powazki military cemetery in Warsaw, Poland
Interviewed in the film – in order of appearance:
Hanna Kuklińska – Wife
Col. Stanisław Radaj – a colleague of Kukliński from the General Staff of the Polish Army
Walter Lang – a CIA officer under US Army cover in Germany in 1972
Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski – Minister of Defence, 1968-1983
General Secretary of the Communist Party, 1981-1989
Gen. Wacław Szklarski – Kukliński’s direct commander
Chief of the Board of Operations of the General Staff of the Polish Army in the 70’s
Gen.William E. Odom – military assistant in the Carter White House to Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977-1981
James Simon – a senior CIA officer specializing in Soviet military issues in the 70’s
Aris Pappas – CIA analyst 1975-2003
Gen. Viktor Anoshkin – Marshal Kulikov’s aide-de-camp
Gen. Viktor Gribkov – Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact, 1976-1989
Marshal Viktor Kulikov – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact, 1977-1989
Gen Antoni Jasiński – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, 1968-1984
Col. Les Griggs – U.S. Army intelligence officer East Europe specialist
Keith Melton – intelligence historian and author
Gen. Czesław Kiszczak – Chief of Intelligence and Counter-intelligence of the Polish Army, 1972-1981 Polish Minister of Internal Affairs, 1981-1990
Benjamin Fisher – Former Chief Historian, CIA
David Forden – CIA officer managing the Kukliński operation, 1973-1978, 1981
Radosław Sikorski – Polish Minister of National Defence, 2005-2007
Roman Barszcz – friend of Kukliński
Tom Ryan – CIA officer, Chief of the station in Warsaw, 1980-1982
Lucille Ryan – Tom Ryan’s wife
Sue Burgraff – CIA officer, case officer in Warsaw, 1977-1981
Deputy Chief of the station in Warsaw, 1981-1982
Lech Wałęsa – Leader of Solidarity, 1981-1990
First President of freed Poland, 1990-1995
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański – head of the Polish Section of the Radio Free Europe, 1952-1975, ‘Courier from Warsaw’ during WWII
Prof. Zbigniew Brzeziński – National Security Adviser to U.S. President Carter 1977-1981
Prof. Richard Pipes – Soviet Affairs Adviser to U.S. President Reagan 1981-1982
Gen. Florian Siwicki – Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army 1973-1983
Mary Lou Cunningham – Kukliński’s neighbour in the USA
Wendy Roth – U.S. friend of Kukliński
Piotr Daniuk – Prosecutor in the Kukliński case 1981-1984
Jerzy Urban – Gen. Jaruzelski’s Government Spokesman 1981-1989
Richard Davies – U.S. Ambassador to Poland 1973-1978
About the Director:
DARIUSZ JABŁOŃSKI – Director
Director and producer, was studying at the Directing Department of the Film Academy in Lodz. He worked on the biggest projects of polish cinematography of the 80`s he was a 1st Assistant Director on Decalogue by Krzysztof Kieslowski.
In 1990 he has founded one of the first and leading independent production companies in Poland, Apple Film Production, which to date has produced many feature films documentaries and TV series.
Jablonski is also an initiator of Polish Film Awards and founder of the Independent Film Foundation, established to promote Polish films and their authors in Poland and abroad. He is a member of the European Film Academy and Polish Film Academy.
WIN Tickets to the Premiere !!!
For your chance to win a pair of tickets to see the May 7th premiere screening of War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them send an email to: younxt@gmail.com with the subject line: “Hot Docs – CONTEST.” Please include your full name and phone number in the email.
The deadline is midnight, Wednesday May 5th, 2010. A winner will be drawn at random.
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