Walesa biopic will not have Amber Gold as investor

Producer Michal Kwiecinski with Agnieszka Odorowicz of the Polish Film Institute: photo - PAP/Pawel Supernak

“Film is an art,” Michal Kwiecinski of Akson Studio told journalists on Friday at a press conference in Warsaw.

“It cannot be created amid a climate of suspicion, witch hunts and political games,” he said.

The producer revealed that the search for new sponsors has already begun.

Poland's pre-eminent film-maker, Andrzej Wajda, finished shooting the movie on 30 June, and post-production is now under way.

Owing to a confidentiality clause, Akson is unable to reveal how much of the 19 million zloty budget (4.6 million euro) was covered by Amber Gold.

However, Kwiecinski stated that the money provided by the company will be held in a bank account until the investigation into Amber Gold has been completed.

Today's conference comes hot on the heels of Lech Walesa's own declaration that he does not want his name to be “muddied” by the association with Amber Gold.

The former Solidarity leader emphasized that he had “nothing to do with Amber Gold”, or with the film itself.

Agnieszka Odorowicz, head of the Polish Film Institute, appealed to journalists at today's conference to not lump the movie together with Amber Gold, stressing that the collapsed company was just one of several sponsors.

As a result of the fiasco, Kwiecinski has put back the premiere of the film, which is simply titled Walesa, from January to April or September 2013. (nh)