Rozmowa z Jerzym Hoffmanem

Abstract

An interview with the Polish film director Jerzy Hoffman was recorded on 11–12 July 2022 at his estate in the village of Sikory Yuskie in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Jerzy Hoffman is perhaps the most popular Polish film director in Ukraine. His films gained recognition even before Ukraine gained independence. However, his most notable work is Ogniem i mieczem [With Fire and Sword, 1999], which starred the great Ukrainian actor Bohdan Stupka (1941–2012) as Hetman Bohdan Chmielnicki. The collaboration continued in the film The Old Tale. When the Sun Was a God (2003). In 2008 Jerzy Hoffman made a four-part documentary film Ukraine. The Birth of a Nation. The conversation touched on issues related to these films, completed and unrealized projects on Ukraine, reflections on the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations and the role of Jerzy Hoffmann’s work in establishing them. As a filmmaker who closely follows events in Ukraine, he shared his impressions and predictions about how the ongoing war will change and transform Ukraine and the world.