I have been waiting for new Peter Weir movie "The Way Back" for more then a year. The Australian director ( winner and six time Academy Award Nominee), my favourite since I saw "Picnic at the Hanging Rock", is working on film based on the novel by Slavomir Rawicz about seven prisoners escaping Siberian labor camps during WWII and and their epic journey to freedom. With amazing director and stunning cast: Colin Ferrel, Ed Harris and Saoirse Ronan it will be moving journey for its audience too.
For seven years I have been working on collecting interviews with Poles deported to Siberian labor camps, mines, special gulags, kolkhozes during WII for visual archives of Polish Army Veterans Association in New York City.
After the invasion of Soviet Army Eastern part of Poland on September 17 1939 over 1, 700, 000 Polish people were deported to different parts of Siberia from 1939-1941. Among them were politicians, civil servants, soldiers, officers, policemen, teachers, doctors, lawyers, intelligentsia, landed gentry, aristocrats, tradesman, artist, craftsmen shopkeepers and farmers. All with their families, they represented all Polish society.
Thousands died from hunger, exhaustion and various diseases. Thousands were murdered by the Soviet system. Thousands disappeared with out a trace.
Survivors were forced into silence for decades.
The visual archive of Polish Army Vetrerans Association consists more then 80 interviews with survivors, their life at Siberia and their epic journey to freedom.
To meet those real life heroes and to see pieces of those deeply moving and tragic stories please visit: www.youtube.com/pavany09english