The Consequences of Truth
Director Denis Dobrovoda, Producers Betsy Laikin and Silvia Panáková
The Consequences of Truth tells the astonishing story of Alfred Wetzler, a Slovak Jewish hero who, remarkably, escaped Auschwitz to warn the world about the Nazi extermination machine; and yet after the war, was persecuted and erased from history by his own government under Communism.
Phase of Support: Production
Denis Dobrovoda
Director
Denis Dobrovoda is an Oscar and EFA-qualified documentary film director. His 2022 debut documentary The Cathedral won the Golden Horn for the Best Film in the International Competition at the Krakow Film Festival. The film was released in three countries and over 100 cinemas and broadcast on TV channels worldwide. His TV documentary They Never Came Back told the astonishing life story of professor Gerta Vrbova, a Holocaust survivor. The film was made with the support of the National Holocaust Museum in Slovakia and was broadcast on RTVS. Denis made two award-winning narrative short films Savage and Apparition which enjoyed success at a number of Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals and were broadcast on the BBC, Noe TV and ShortsTV. He studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford, and has a diploma in Film Directing from the École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation in Paris.
Betsy Laikin
Producer
Betsy Laikin is a New York based producer of documentary and narrative films. She produced Nira Burstein’s documentary Charm Circle which won the Audience Award at Sheffield DocFest in 2021 and was released on the Criterion Channel. She was a consulting producer for Jacob Feiring’s Samantha and the Amazing Acro Cats, which premiered at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and produced Nira’s short films Gangrenous and Off & Away. Her work has been supported by Manhattan Cultural Fund, The Gotham (Independent Film Project), Jerome Foundation, Jewish Story Partners, Women In Film, PBS, Claims Conference, and Association of Independents in Radio. Betsy previously worked as a film programmer for Women’s Voices Now.
Silvia Panáková
Producer
Silvia Panáková graduated in production and management at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She co-founded ARINA, Ltd in 2004 and has produced over 20 feature and documentary films and is a member of Slovak Film and Television Academy, Producer on the move, European Film Academy and ACE PRODUCERS. Previous films include Piargy (2021), Unseen (2020), Jiří Suchý – Tackling Life with Ease (2019), Prague Orgie (2019), and Jan Palach (2018)