A screening open to everyone with an admission ticket – in the courtyard of the Academy of Knights at 7:30 p.m.. From Tuesday, September 9, at 3:00 p.m. free tickets will be available at the Satyrykon Gallery in the Market Square.

“The Photographer”, like “Suspended”, “Ballad of Zakaczawie” and “Little Moscow”, was filmed primarily in Legnica. It was shot in the city’s outdoor locations from April to May 2013. Key scenes were filmed at Słowiański Square, in the Market Square, outside the Town Hall, at the Municipal Office’s civil affairs department, on Legnica’s streets, in public buildings, at Letia Business Center and in apartments in Tarninów. The casting for the main child role also took place here. The city supported the film’s production with both material and financial assistance.

What is the film about? Poland, 1974. A Soviet military garrison in Legnica, closed off from the world. A seven-year-old boy is transported by train to a psychiatric hospital in Moscow. He is to be locked up there forever.

Moscow, present day. While pursuing a serial killer known as the Photographer, a group of Russian special services officers uses Natasha as bait—the only person to survive an encounter with the Photographer when he was in danger. Why did he spare her life? How does Natasha know that, in searching for the Photographer, she must travel to Poland, to Legnica?

Legnica, present day. Natasha and a Polish police officer are the only ones who do not want to kill the cornered Photographer. What connects these three strangers? What connects Legnica’s dramatic history with the dark secret of minds enslaved by the Soviet system?

“The Photographer” has been nominated for the Main Competition of the 39th Gdynia Film Festival. The selection committee chose 13 films from among 31 submissions to compete for the main prize—the 2014 Golden Lions. This year’s Film Festival will take place from September 15 to 20.

Let us recall that in 2008, at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, Waldemar Krzystek had already won the Golden Lion for Best Film, awarded by the jury to “Little Moscow”. Swietłana Chodczenkowa, who appeared in the film, received the Golden Lion for Best Actress. The film was shown to an audience of millions around the world. It also had an extremely popular television series adaptation.

So we are keeping our fingers crossed for “The Photographer”, directed by Waldemar Krzystek, who is also its co-screenwriter, together with Krzysztof Kopka. The cast includes well-known Polish and Russian actors: Sonia Bohosiewicz, Adam Woronowicz, Agata Buzek, Tomasz Kot (a Legnica resident), Karol Kadłubiec, Tatiana Arntgolts, Alexandr Baluev, Andrei Kostash, Alena Babenko, Marat Basharov, Nodar Dzhanelidze, Aleksey Gorbunov and Victor Demertash. The cinematographer is Arkadiusz Tomiak, the production designer is Dorota Dąbrowska, the composer is Maciej Zieliński and the editor is Marek “Mulny” Mulica.

UM Legnica/ii