On 3 April 2004, during the holiday of Ashura, Iraqi rebels loyal to Shiite leader Muktada As-Sadr, launched an insurgency in the Polish zone. The Poles, together with Bulgarian soldiers and Iraqi police, were given the task of defending City Hall, led by Lieutenant colonel Grzegorz Kaliciak. The clash developed into the biggest Polish engagement since World War II. Not a single allied soldier died, although about 80 insurgents were killed in a counter-attack.
Acting
Topa's exhaustion feels earned, not performed
Practical Effects
Shot in Jordan with authentic Polish military hardware
Director
Krzysztof Łukaszewicz
Bartłomiej Topa
Captain Kalicki
Antoni Królikowski
Paramedic Kamil Grad
Hristo Shopov
Captain Getow
Atheer Adel
Farid
Leszek Lichota
Corporal 'Mały' Maleńczuk
Michał Żurawski
Sergeant 'Starszy' Waszczuk
Tomasz Schuchardt
Lieutenant Sobański
Piotr Żurawski
'Młody' Waszczuk
Zbigniew Stryj
General Dąbek
Piotr Głowacki
Galica
Łukasz Simlat
'X'
Samir Fuchs
Sadrist Commander
Mikołaj Roznerski
'Rożen' Różdżyński
Jakub Wieczorek
Majcherek
Alexander Sano
Sirakow
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Real Kaliciak consulted on set; the 'no casualties' record remains disputed by some military historians who note non-fatal injuries were severe.
One of few Iraq War films from a non-US/UK perspective, it sparked debate in Poland about whether their 'peacekeeping' role was genuinely humanitarian or Bush-era complicity.
PL
