Upclose with Larysa Kondracki

HK Magazine: How did the initial idea for “The Whistleblower” come up?
Larysa Kondracki: I’m a Ukrainian Canadian and people in my community were taking about this issue, which was happening to women in Ukraine. At that time, the phrase “sex-trafficking” wasn’t that commonly known. The more I read about it, the more outraged I became, but then I saw Kathy’s story—that governments, the US State Department and high levels of the UN not only knew, but covered up the problem. It felt like a Robert Ludlum thriller. I knew there was a movie in here.

HK: You flew to Amsterdam to talk to Kathy herself. Would you tell us something about that experience?
LK: It was great. Kathy is a warm and funny person, but she’s also a great cop. She actually had almost a car-full of evidence that she smuggled out of Bosnia. There was so much material to get through, but also to see how much evidence she had… it was amazing.

HK: How long did the research phase take? I know you also spoke to many officials from the UN, EU and other organizations—was it difficult to get information from them?
LK: We traveled and wrote for about two years. It was a long, but also invigorating, process. It was about gaining the trust of people, and they would give you the names of other people when you got to the next city. We went across Europe and Eastern Europe and saw so many sides to this problem. Sure, there were moments where we had to gain trust, but we found that there are a lot of people that want to talk—a lot of people who are sick of what’s going on, and want the news to get out there. I hope this film helps make that public.

HK: What challenges did you and your crew encounter during the filming process?
LK: We shot in Romania and also two days in Toronto. The biggest challenge was the time. We shot very fast and the crew and actors were wonderful. Everybody put aside egos or needs; they were all there out of passion. That was incredible to be a part of.

HK: “The Whistleblower” seems very ambitious for a filmmaker’s directorial debut. Did you have concerns about touching on such a big and complicated story for your first feature?
LK: Yes and no. To be honest, it was just the story I wanted to tell. Probably during the screenwriting process I started to realize I wouldn’t be able to get everything in there, so it was more a matter of stripping down the story to the bare essentials.

HK: The film stars an incredible female cast including Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave and Monica Bellucci—how did they get involved with this project?
LK: I think they were all attracted to the story and the characters. To play nuanced, flawed and complicated women, all based on real people—I think that’s a rewarding challenge to actors. It was the story that attracted them. Definitely not the paycheck!

HK: Being both a woman and a journalist, I was shocked, enraged as well as inspired as I was watching the film. As the writer-director, what response do you expect from the audience? And what feedback have you gotten so far?
LK: A similar response. I guess when people hear Bosnia and sex-trafficking, they assume it will be heavy and boring. But I think people find the film really engaging and you get very emotional, and excited and angry and there’s suspense… People seem to really be blown away by the story. We released the film in Canada, Denmark and the US, and so far the feedback has been great. There’s also a lot of talk about Rachel’s performance and possible Oscar buzz, which is truly deserved. She’s really incredible in this. I’m so pleased there’s near unanimous agreement on that.