The Last Witness (2018)

An ambitious young journalist uncovers the horrific slaughter of twenty-two thousand Polish officers during World War II. A secret that has been kept hidden for far too many years.

Director:

Piotr Szkopiak

Writers:

Paul Szambowski, Piotr Szkopiak

Stars:

Alex Pettyfer, Robert Wieckiewicz, Talulah Riley

40 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Pettyfer	...	Stephen Underwood
Robert Wieckiewicz	...	Michael Loboda
Talulah Riley	...	Jeanette Mitchell
Michael Gambon	...	Frank Hamilton
Charles De'Ath	...	Police Sergeant
Holly Aston	...	Rose Miller (as Holly Augustine)
Anita Carey	...	Joan Caldercott
Piotr Stramowski	...	Andrzej Nowak
Will Thorp	...	Colonel Janusz Pietrowski
Paddy Wallace	...	DP Camp Sentry
Marko Leht	...	Lieutenant Zygmunt Horniak
Akemnji Ndifornyen	...	Sergeant Ekundayo Osunsanmi
Gwilym Lee	...	Captain John Underwood
Mateusz Mirek	...	Polish DP
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	...	Mason Mitchell

Storyline

A young, ambitious journalist risks love, career, and ultimately his life to uncover the true identity of an Eastern European refugee and his connection to the British government's collusion in the cover up of one of Joseph Stalin's most notorious crimes.

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Plot Keywords:

voice over narration | the western post newspaper | polish hostel somerset england | soviet invasion of poland 1939 | kiss | 

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Genres:

History | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

After credits: "In 1990, Soviet President Gorbachev admitted that the Soviet Union was responsible for the murders of Polish prisoners of war at Katyn in 1940. No one was ever prosecuted. In 2012, declassified documents proved that the U.S. government suppressed information that attested to Soviet guilt. No British government has ever publicly charged the Soviet Union with responsibility for the Katyn Massacre. This film is dedicated to the 22,000 Polish prisoners of war murdered in the Katyn Massacre and to those murdered in the years that followed so that the truth would remain buried forever."

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Goofs

The editor of the Western Post has a portrait of Winston Churchill in his office. According the the Churchill Museum the portrait was painted in 1955, some eight years after the film is set.

User Reviews

It's right in the events pertaining to Katyn, but so wrong in everything else.

The events in Katyn, Kozelsk , Ostashkov , Starobelsk, Jukhnovo , Yuzhe , Tyotkino , Kozelshchyna, Oranki, Vologda, Gryazovets are well documented. These were Soviet extermination centres for Poles who might resist the new partition of Poland. Katyn is simply the easiest as it's the best known, as far back as 1943. The German advance into Belarus uncovers the mass grave of Polish officers, priests, rabbis, lecturers etc. The Nazi's release this as a major propaganda coup, the Polish government in exile calls for an investigation by the International Red Cross. The Soviets cut off all communication with them, does anyone still wonder why the Soviet advance stalled outside Warsaw when the free poles launched an uprising ? The cover-up, yes obviously, the Soviets have destroyed the best of German armies, you don't upset a good ally. When the Cold War starts fingers start to point, only journalist I can find who called this out was Epstein. He basically said Voice of America had and was still covering up the facts because they're commies as well, was an age of McCarthyism remember.

Details

Official Sites:

Vicarious Dreams [United Kingdom]

Country:

UK Poland

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Witness

Filming Locations:

UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,058

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vicarious Productions Limited, Vicarious Productions, Dignity Film Finance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color