The Whistleblower
| The Whistleblower | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Larysa Kondracki |
| Produced by | Christina Piovesan Amy Kaufman Celine Rattray Benito Mueller Wolfgang Mueller |
| Written by | Larysa Kondracki Eilis Kirwan |
| Starring | Rachel Weisz David Strathairn Nikolaj Lie Kaas Anna Anissimova Vanessa Redgrave Monica Bellucci Rayisa Kondracki |
| Cinematography | Kieran McGuigan |
| Editing by | Julian Clarke |
| Distributed by | Samuel Goldwyn Films |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 112 minutes |
| Country | Canada United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,124,966[1] |
The Whistleblower is a 2010 thriller film directed by Larysa Kondracki, written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, starring Rachel Weisz.[2] Inspired by actual events, the film tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, and premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] It was distributed theatrically in the United States by Samuel Goldwyn Films in August 2011.[4]
Plot
Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) is a police officer from Lincoln, Nebraska who accepts an offer to work with the U.N. International Police in post-war Bosnia at a U.K. company called Democra Security (a pseudonym for DynCorp International[5]). Upon fighting for the trial for a Muslim woman suffering from domestic abuse and succeeding, Kathryn is made head of the department of gender affairs. She becomes involved in the case of a young Ukrainian woman named Raya, who had recently been sold by her aunt's husband to a sex trafficking ring. She escapes and Kathryn sends her to a women's shelter specifically set up for the victims of sexual slavery. Through Raya's case, Kathryn is able to uncover a wide-scale sexual slavery and human-trafficking ring that various international personnel, including that of the U.S., have participated in. Furthermore, when she brings the scandal to the attention of the U.N., she discovers that they have covered it up in order to protect lucrative defense and security contracts. Kathryn finds allies in Madeleine Rees (Vanessa Redgrave) and Peter Ward (David Strathairn), authority figures who support her investigation.
Kathryn is soon fired from her job due to her knowing too much about the scandal and her reluctance to stop the investigation. Meanwhile, Raya had been captured again and is later found dead, only pushing Kathryn even more to bring the scandal to light. She and Ward eventually capture evidence of an official admitting to the scandal, and she brings it to the BBC. It is said in the ending credits that following Kathryn's departure, a number of peacekeepers were sent home, though none faced criminal charges because of immunity laws. It is also noted that the U.S. continues to do business with private contractors like Democra Security, including ones worth billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cast
- Rachel Weisz as Kathryn Bolkovac
- David Strathairn as Peter Ward
- Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jan
- Anna Anissimova as Zoe
- Monica Bellucci as Laura Leviani
- Vanessa Redgrave as Madeleine Rees
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Nick Kaufman
- Roxana Condurache as Raya Kochan
- Liam Cunningham as Bill Haynes
- David Hewlett as Fred Murray
- William Hope as John Blakely
Awards
- Won
- Whistler Film Festival 2010:
- Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature
- Phillip Borsos Award – Best Film
- Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011:
- Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature
- Seattle International Film Festival 2011:
- Golden Space Needle Award – Best Director: Larysa Kondracki
- Nominated
- Cinema for Peace Awards 2011:
- Cinema for Peace Award – Justice & Human Rights: Larysa Kondracki
- Seattle International Film Festival
- Golden Space Needle Award – Best Film
Production
The film is a Canada–Germany coproduction. Shooting began in September, 2009. It was shot mostly in Romania, with a few key scenes shot in Toronto.
Reception
Rottentomatoes.com gave the film a 74%, with a rating of 6.5/10. Out of 109 reviews, 81 gave it a positive review.[6]Metacritic gave the film a 59 out of 100, with critics giving it both a positive and mixed review.[7][8]
References
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=whistleblower11.htm
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2009-08-20). "Trio join Weisz for indie 'Whistleblower'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
- ^ "The Complete 2010 Toronto International Film Festival Line-up". Rope of Silicon (August 24, 2010). Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ "Rachel Weisz's 'The Whistleblower' Picked Up By Samuel Goldwyn Films". The Hollywood Reporter (November 4, 2010). Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-isenberg/the-dyncorp-see-no-evil-m_b_1267479.html
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Metacritic
- ^ Whitman, Howard. "Blu-ray Movie Review: The Whistleblower". Technologytell. www.technologytell.com. Retrieved 4/2/2012.
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