It was two years after the imposition of martial law in Poland. Krzysztof Zanussi, who had been abroad when the curtain fell and knew that travel for dissident artists would be severely restricted, decided to stay put in western Europe and seek support for a suitcase of projects at the doors of film and television production companies. One of the first to support him was Regina Ziegler, who immediately backed him on "Die Unerreichbare" (The Unapproachable) (1982 ), starring Leslie Caron, and then followed with four more productions over the next decade to help tide him over. Both the German producer and the Polish director knew that if significant financial input came from the West, then government authorities in Poland would respond with a the lead roles, with locations in Poland and a Polish production crew and supporting cast. On the surface this appeared to be just another "story about a wartime POW camp in which many prisoners - Americans and British aviators - had lost their lives," stated Zanussi innocently in an interview. "The events in this Stalag are being investigated by a commission sent by the Allies, whose activities are supported by the newly established Polish authorities." In truth, however, Krzysztof Zanussi was making an entirely different film. Set in a border area of eastern Poland, the investigation by the commission - headed by an American soldier (Scott Wilson) and aided in his search by a Polish painter (Maja Komorowska) - hinted clearly of details hidden by the government about the Katyn forest massacre of Polish officers during the war (one of whom was the father of Andrzej Wajda). How was Zanussi able to hide his true intentions and pull the wool over the eyes of government censors? Being a multi linguist, he couched the film's actual message in flowery words: "This is meant to be a film of gentle emotions, of timid presentiments, and of still unspoken thoughts to the end. The whole action comes to fore as a wreathed-in-mist, far-removed remembrance with soft contours. The historical events in the background of the action are simplified." When The Year of the Quiet Sun premiered at the Venice film festival, those unspoken thoughts were well understood by key members of the international jury. One was Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose own poem on Babi Yar and the massacre of Ukrainian Jews at Kiev had caused an uproar in the Soviet Union. Another was Günter Grass, who confirmed that Zanussi's film was the jury's favorite from the first days of the festival - and its unanimous choice for the Golden Lion.