Five Minutes With… Michał Rogalski
The director of Polish spy thriller The Bay of Spies discusses the real-life inspirations behind the 1940s-set series, his directorial approach and how he seeks to distinguish his work from other filmmakers. Second World War thriller The Bay of Spies opens in 1940s Gdynia, where young Nazi officer Franz Neumann discovers his real father was Polish. Using this information to his advantage, he becomes a spy for the Allies and is tasked to obtain information about the Germany navy, leading him to become embedded in the German elite. Debuting earlier this month on Polish broadcaster TVP, the nine-part series is produced by Akson Studio, with a screenplay co-written by Michał Godzic (Chasing Dreams) and Wojciech Lepianka (My Father’s Bike). DQ caught up with director Michał Rogalski to discuss the inspiration behind Franz’s story and the challenges of creating an authentic period drama. What inspired you to make The Bay of Spies? Franz Neumann is a fictional character. We didn’t have any real characters that led us to tell this story, but one important thing to know is the history of [Polish city] Gdansk, and then the character of Franz Neumann becomes clearer. Gdansk and the Pomeranian region was always contested between Poland and Germany. Until 1793, it was Polish land, then it became German land until 1920 and then a free city. The population of the city was very mixed, and so the identity of the people there was extremely mixed. Franz Neumann didn’t exist exactly, but there were tens … Continue reading Five Minutes With… Michał Rogalski
