Seeking the truth of Smolensk

In 2010, an air crash in Smolensk, western Russia, killed 96 people, including Polish president President Lech Kaczynski and many senior members of the Polish government and military.

The victims of the crash had been traveling to a memorial ceremony for those who died in the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which thousands of Polish intellectuals and military officers were killed by Soviet secret police.

Film producer Maciej Pawlicki has started work on a new film depicting the events surrounding the disaster.

Although Russian and Polish investigators concluded that the crash occurred as a result of pilot error and poor weather conditions, many still maintain that the incident was caused by two explosions in the last phase of the flight.

Some even claim that the crash was actually a Russian declaration of war against Poland, while there are others who insist it was an elaborate coup operation designed to transform Poland's ruling elite.

The project, which is being partly funded by public donations, has been criticized by Poland’s culture minister, among others, who suggests it’s too early to make a film about the causes of the disaster. Pawlicki maintains that the film, set for release in 2013, is crucial in addressing the trauma still surrounding the event.