02/11/2005

Thirty years after The Tin Drum (Golden Palm 1979 in Cannes, Oscar 1980 as Best Film in foreign language), Volker Schlöndorff is back in Gdansk to shoot Vergessene Heldin ("A forgotten heroine") and sheds some light on the historical role of Anna Walentynowicz, a worker whose sacking, during Summer 1980, led to a general strike and the creation of the famous trade union Solidarnosc, the leader of which later became Lech Walesa. The main role is played by Katharina Thalbach, whom the director has already worked with in Gdansk for the above-mentioned masterpiece.

'I am no heroine! Never wanted to be one', says Walentynowicz, who wrote to the producers (and had the title changed, since it originally included her name), protested against the film in the media, and threatened to take the case to court. Schlöndorff's answer to this 76-year-old ex-trade unionist was that his purpose was not to tell her story so much as underline how one single person can have an influence on History. Thus, the biographical inaccuracies mentioned by Walentynowicz cannot be held against the director, claims Marianna Rowinska, the Polish producer, since this film is not a documentary but a fiction.

In any case, the shooting has already started. Vergessene Heldin is produced in Poland (Paisa Films) and Germany (Provobis, Mediopolis, BR Bayerischer Rundfunk).

(Translated from French)