Pop Culturalist Chats with The Last Witness’ Piotr Szkopiak

Piotr Szkopiak is the creative genius behind the camera. He’s directed countless popular television programs including EastEnders, Coronation Street, and Emmerdale. In 2000, he made the transition to the silver screen, directing and writing his first feature film, Small Time Obsession. Hailed by The Guardian and Variety as a “director to watch,” Piotr is bringing important stories to life and making them accessible to a mainstream audience. His newest film, The Last Witness, is an engrossing political thriller about the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers. We spoke with Piotr about the project and why it hits close to home.

PC: Tell us about The Last Witness and your connection to the story.
Piotr: The Last Witness is a story about a young journalist in 1947. He’s ambitious, career-driven, and he wants that big story. In the style of a classic, old-school political thriller, he starts to unravel a conspiracy cover-up of the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers during the war in 1940 by the Soviets. After the war, this was blamed on the Germans and continued to be blamed on them. The British and American governments went along with the Soviets about who was responsible and that’s the premise of the film.

I was born to Polish parents who came to the U.K. after the war. My grandfather was executed in the Katyń Massacre. So, my mother is his daughter and she could not go back to Poland because it had been given away to the Soviet Union. She stayed here and met my father and I was born. The story resonates with me because I would not be here if the events that happened in the film didn’t occur.

PC: Did you feel any added pressure with this film because it’s based on true events and your connection with it?
Piotr: I feel a huge responsibility. The film opened in Poland and you can only imagine how anxious I was! [laughs] It’s not only a personal story, but it’s about Polish, British, American, and World history. I didn’t make it easy on myself [laughs]. In the end, I tried to be as honest and as detailed about it as possible. I wanted to present the facts in an entertaining way that would engage audiences. I wanted them to know this story, have it stay with them, and maybe even pique their interest to find out more about it.

PC: We read that the film was shot over the course of 18 days. How challenging was it to manage that timeline and to stay within budget?
Piotr: It’s all in the preparation! In the fifteen or so years since the initial script was written, I did a lot of preparation. I wrote the film as a director. I was looking for locations and I always had one eye on production. During those fifteen years, I had produced my first film, worked a lot in television, and really was learning my craft. I learned how to do things quickly. And I like to think I’ve learned how to make things look more expensive than they really are. That’s always the job—to make everything look cinematic and big with the resources you have. Whichever way you look at it, no matter what the budget is, you’re still going into the same cinema where Avengers: Infinity Wars is playing. You’re competing with films that have huge budgets. You can compete by telling the best story you can.

PC: What was the collaboration like between you and the cast?
Piotr: It was fantastic! What I liked is that I have an ensemble of new actors and actors who are trying something new. With Alex Pettyfer, he’s known for certain types of films but this is a departure for him. We have Polish actors who are working in Poland. We have fresh faces from England. It’s a great mix of international talent. Because they’re not all recognizable, it makes the story more believable.

Catch The Last Witness on VOD or Digital HD on May 29th and make sure to follow Piotr on Twitter.