After the history of Komenda, Holoubek makes another film based on facts. About agents of the Polish People’s Republic. There were only 15 of these

On Thursday, February 24, at 3 a.m. Polish time, Russian troops attacked Ukraine. The soldiers struck both from the ground and from the air. The Ukrainian authorities report that 352 civilians, including 14 children, died as a result of the attack by Russian troops. Over 400 Russian mercenaries from the so-called Wagner’s group operates in Kiev; their target is the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and members of the Ukrainian government. The EU and NATO countries are rapidly increasing the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and severe sanctions are coming into force, which will affect the Russian markets. Over two hundred thousand refugees from Ukraine have already arrived in Poland. The situation is changing minute by minute, we are driving

He is undoubtedly one of the most recognized directors of the young generation, his debut feature “25 years of innocence. Tomek Komenda’s case” won many awards and critical acclaim, as is the case with the series “Rojst” and its continuation “Rojst’97”. The director is also inspired by real stories this time – this time of communist spies who operated in the field using a stolen identity.

Holubek is making a new film about PRL agents

The great Jakub Gierszał will play the main role, and he will be accompanied by Emily Kusche, known from the series “Sloborn”. Apart from them, the cast included: Tomasz Schuchardt, Wiktoria Gorodeckaja, Andrzej Seweryn, Katarzyna Herman, Nathalie Richard, Joachim Raaf and Jessica McIntyre. Shooting for the film will be carried out, among others in Warsaw, Tricity, Bydgoszcz, Wrocław and Riga in Latvia. As the director emphasizes:

For me, the most important layer of the film, hidden under a crime story, is the psychological one that concerns identity. ‘Doppelgänger. The Double ‘is a story about her loss. I am fascinated by the parallelism of the characters who experience it almost simultaneously. This is a genre psychological thriller that takes us back to the fascinating time of the end of the 70’s and the beginning of the next decade. It takes place on both sides of the Iron Curtain simultaneously.

The main character settles in France, taking advantage of the comfort and freedom offered by the wealthy West, he blends into the local community as part of intelligence activities. The ‘great story’ of the turn of the decades takes place in the background of the main plot – the events of August ’80, the dark years of martial law and, finally, the time of transformation. It is an extremely attractive period for me.

The producer of the film – Anna Waśniewska from TVN Grupa Discovery – tells a little more about historical inspirations:

There were few such intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of Poland. The art of living with false data only succeeded in the best, most intelligent individuals with nerves of steel. ‘Wtórnik’ is the highest level of espionage initiation. It is estimated that there were only fifteen of them in the 1970s.

Our hero, played by Jakub Gierszał, was one of them. Preparations for the film lasted almost two years, the start of shooting was preceded by long, meticulous documentations of the director and crew as well as international castings.

“This is my second film, on a much larger scale, made with the grant of the Polish Film Institute. I would like to thank the experts and director Radosław Śmigulski for this support,” adds the film’s director, Jan Holoubek. He wrote the script in collaboration with Andrzej Gołda. Marek Warszewski is responsible for the set design, and Weronika Orlińska is responsible for the costumes. Characterization will be created by Mirela Zawiszewska. The premiere of the film is scheduled for 2023. The production received funding from the Polish Film Institute.