Film Archive

Operation Danube

Official Selection - Out of Competition 2009 / Operacja Dunaj / Poland, Czech Republic 2009

The fleet of Polish tanks which set out on 20 August 1968 to liberate Czechoslovakia, apparently threatened by a counter-revolution, includes the old tank nicknamed "Ladybird”. It gets hopelessly lost and conks out at daybreak in a small Czech border town in the middle of nowhere. Soon, however, all kinds of unplanned relationships begin to blossom between the hostile inhabitants and the occupiers. There’s a tank to be fixed, Czech dumplings to be savoured, and there might also be a bit of romance in the air… Debuting director Jacek Głomb based his tragicomedy, which also features Czech stars, on his own stage production.

Synopsis

Operation Danube was the cover name for the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact armies in August 1968. The fleet of Polish tanks which arrive to liberate their neighbour, ostensibly threatened by a counter-revolution, includes the old tank nicknamed "Ladybird”, which is the last to leave the barracks. It gets hopelessly lost and conks out at daybreak in a small Czech border town in the middle of nowhere. Its inhabitants are quick to show their antipathy towards the occupiers. However, when both sides realise they are essentially victims of the situation and that they are capable of reaching a gentlemen’s agreement, all kinds of relationships begin to blossom. There’s a tank to be fixed, Czech dumplings to be savoured, and there might also be a bit of romance in the air… "I’m interested in history from an ordinary person’s point of view. It’s a film about understanding,” states debuting director Jacek Głomb, who based his tragicomedy on his own theatre production staged in Legnica, Poland, in 2006. Historical fact links this Polish town with the occupation of Czechoslovakia: the invasion’s Soviet command operated from here and it was to Legnica that Czech politicians involved in the Prague Spring were brought after their arrest.

About the film

104 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Jacek Głomb / Screenplay Jacek Kondracki, Robert Urbański / Dir. of Photography Jacek Petrycki / Music Bartek Straburzyński / Editor Jiří Brožek / Producer Włodzimierz Niderhaus / Production Documentary and Feature Film Studio – WFDiF / Cast Eva Holubová, Jiří Menzel, Maciej Stuhr, Maciej Nawrocki, Bogdan Grzeszczak, Przemysław Bluszcz, Bolek Polívka, Jaroslav Dušek, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Rudolf Hrušínský, Monika Zoubková, Martha Issová, Jan Budař, Joanna Gonschorek, Magda Biegańska, Vojtěch Dyk, Tomasz Kot / Contact Bontonfilm, a.s., Monolith Films, WFDiF - Documentary and Feature Films Studios / Distributor Bontonfilm, a.s.
www: www.wfdif.com.pl

About the director

Jacek Głomb (b. 1964, Tarnów, Poland) is a film and stage director; he studied history at Jagiellonian University, graduating in 1987. He originally planned to continue an academic career as a teacher but, in the end, he became involved in the Solidarity movement. He worked as a journalist and successfully began as a director focusing on experimental theatre and performing in the city streets. He has been director of the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica, Poland, since 1994. He graduated from the department of stage direction at the National Academy of Theatre in Cracow in 1995. He directed broadcasts of his own theatre productions for Polish Television (Mieczysław Abramowicz: Passion, 1996, Robert Urbański: Easts and Wests of the City, 2003). The film Operation Danube, freely inspired by real events and by his own stage production, is his feature film debut.

Contacts

Bontonfilm, a.s.
Na Poříčí 1047/26, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 257 415 111
E-mail: [email protected]

Monolith Films
Chelmska 21, 00724, Warsaw
Poland
Phone: +48 22 851 1077
Fax: +48 22 851 1079
E-mail: [email protected]

WFDiF - Documentary and Feature Films Studios
Chelmska 21, 00-724, Warsaw
Poland
Phone: + 48 228 412 683
Fax: +48 228 415 891
E-mail: [email protected]