On September 24, 2009 AmCham Kraków hosted the show of the movie „General – the Gibraltar assassination”. The movie was made available to AmCham thanks to the generosity of director Jarosław Potasz of TVN, who also provided us with a surprisingly big screen, professional projector, sound system and an operator making sure all pieces worked together in unison. All of that turned the event into a real evening at the movie theater.
The film presents the last days of general Władysław Sikorski (Krzysztof Pieczyński), right before the Gibraltar catastrophe. The commander is accompanied by his daughter Zofia (Kamilla Baar) and a group of closest collaborators. They are all guests in the palace of the Governor of Gibraltar, Mason Macfarlane (Jerzy Grałek), who is supposed to persuade Sikorski to give back documents on the murder of Polish officers in Katyń. When Sikorski refuses, a plan of attempt on his life comes into action. Who stood behind it? Who executed it and how? Was Zofia on board of Liberator too?
The story of Polish courier Jan Gralewski (Tomasz Sobczak) and his wife Alicja Iwańska (Marieta Żukowska) is presented in parallel. Jan Gralewski allegedly had warned the General about the attempt, but in fact played a surprising role in the Gibraltar mystification. The discussion about Sikorski’s death continues until today. Many of the documents are still classified and we don’t know if they will be ever made public. The film is based on research of Dr. Dariusz Baliszewski, according to whom general Sikorski had been murder before the Gibraltar catastrophe.
The movie was directed and produced by Lidka Kazen, who was present during the show and was answering questions after the movie. Her presence gave the audience an opportunity to learn about the production process, hear some related anecdotes, to find out that the love affair presented in the movie was based on a real story and to learn about the research conducted by Dr. Baliszewski.
AmCham Kraków would like to thank TVN for such a great show and Yossi Wircer, the GM of the Holiday Inn hotel for hosting the movie and delighting us with cakes and beverages.
American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, Kraków Branch 