How did you get the idea or inspiration to make a film adaptation of Cardinal Dziwiszs story?
We got the idea even before the publication of the book. When I showed friends the first proofs of the book, they said it was invaluable. The cardinal related lots of important things we either had no idea of or only sensed, at the most. There had been no first-hand testimonies that would say: “Yes, this is what I saw, this is how it was.” The book contains no interpretations or guesses, only facts. It was met with enthusiastic acclaim, but also one indicating hunger for more: “This is not enough, we’d like to hear more.” The 240-page long book is naturally only a signal, only a starting point. Cardinal Dziwisz wrote a page in his diary every day for 40 years. Certainly, it included so many important things that some kind of Testimony II could be written. I had just finished making the mini-series Tajemnice Watykanu (“Secrets of the Vatican”) – a large TV production. I decided to talk the Cardinal into making a documentary, although partly dramatised. We wanted to expand some themes fr
