PROTAGONISTS
TEASER
TEAM
DIRK VAN DEN BERG is a director, writer and producer with wide international experience. About 15 years ago Dirk changed his focus from fictional to factual films, often with stories from the Middle East, the Maghreb and Africa. Before BIG BANG he directed “THE SIEGE OF MECCA” (aka “Le Siège de la Mecque”, aka "Mekka 1979, Urknall des Terrors?"), the first comprehensive investigation of the battle for Islam's Holiest Site that in 1979 changed world history. Before that Dirk created films with stories rooted in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kashmir and Northern Africa. Dirk co-produced BIG BANG OF THE PRESENT with his Berlin-based production company OUTREMER FILM and co-directed the film with his French partner…
PASCAL VERROUST, a veteran producer and writer. With his new production company K2 PRODUCTIONS, Pascal for the past 30 years has created many successful and visionary films for French and international cinema and television. Before co-producing THE SIEGE OF MECCA and co-directing BIG BANG with Dirk, Pascal produced films such as "L'homme sur les quais" directed by Raoul Peck (Official Competition, Cannes Film Festival); "Karnaval" by Thomas Vincent (best first film prize, Berlin Film Festival); "Rien à faire" by Marion Vernoux (official Competition, Venice Film Festival); "Cong Binh, the lost fighters of Vietnam" by Lam Lé. He is a member of the CNC and of the Labour Union of French Independent Producers.
WORLD SALES
ELINA KEWITZ
elina [at] newdocs.de
LUISA SCHWAMBORN
luisa [at] newdocx.de
With first-hand accounts and never-before-seen archive footage, directors-producers DIRK VAN DEN BERG and PASCAL VERROUST decrypt our globalised world and show how 1979
From Deng Xiaoping's economic opening of China to Margaret Thatcher’s introduction of liberal market politics, from Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran and Islamic revolution to Pope John Paul II and his summer visit in Poland where he called fellow catholics to resist against communism, from the Second Oil Shock and the nuclear accident at the Harrisburg power plant to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, from Saddam Hussain's power grab in Iraq to the beginning of nuclear proliferation with India, and from the very first report on Climate Change to the first wave of refugees when the Vietnamese Boat People arrived in Europe: within the twelve months of 1979, the world saw the rise of multiple new protagonists who enacted pivotal changes in Religion, Economics and Politics.
DIRK VAN DEN BERG & PASCAL VERROUST
info [at] 1979bigbang.com
JAN BERRIS
She coordinated the Chinese press during Deng's visit to the US in 1979 and is heading the National Committee on US-China relations.
LESZEK BALCEROWICZ
A young economist and party member in 1979, he developed the radical plan to transform Poland into a free market economy.
CHAHLA CHAFIQ
In 1979 a student at Tehran University, she went underground, left Iran and today is a well-known writer in France.
STANISLAW CIOSEK
A member of the Communist party's Central Committee, he became the last Polish ambassador to the USSR.
HAIDEH DARAGAHI
In 1979 she was a professor of literature in Tehran. The revolution, made her become a women’s rights activist and a fighter.
CHAS FREEMAN
A former diplomat, Chas is a legendary figure of U.S.-China relations who has actively shaped international politics for more than four decades..
ROY HATTERSLEY
A former Minister of Defence and long-time deputy leader of the Labour party, he is an author and a journalist with an acute sense of humour.
ROGER GARSIDE
A former diplomat and in 1979 the First Secretary at the British embassy, he witnessed first hand the most tranformative years of China.
MICHAEL HESELTINE
A British politician and businessman, he was a prominent member of the UK governments lead by M. Thatcher and J. Major.
WEI JINGSHENG
From an electrician he openly challenged Deng Xiaoping, was thrown in prison for 16 years.
CHARLES MOORE
A former editor of The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator, he is known globally for his authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher
SHAHIN NAWAI
A biologist in 1979 and until today, during the revolution she founded the largest Iranian women's organisation.
CHRIS NIEDENTHAL
British-born and for many years the only western press photographer behind the Iron Curtain, his photos captured the transformation of Poland.
DAVID OWEN
He was Great Britain's youngest Foreign Secretary, left the Labour party to create his own, is a physician by trade and an author by passion,
EVA QUISTORP
A protestant theologian and activist in women's, peace and environmental movement, she co-founded "Die Grünen" alongside Petra Kelly.
HANNA SUCHOCKA
A lawyer in 1979, she became Poland's first female Prime Minister, Polish ambassador to the Holy See and a confidante of Pope John Paul II.
LECH WALESA
Among our protagonists he is the second electrician - and the world-famous co-founder of Solidarnosc who became Poland's first freely elected President.
ALFRED WIERZBICKI
As a student at the Catholic university of Lublin, he witnessed how John Paul II transformed Poland. He is a Theologian and an Ethicist.
CONTACTS
WITNESSES
A FILM BY DIRK VAN DEN BERG & PASCAL VERROUST
OUTREMER FILM and K2 PRODUCTIONS PRESENT
BIG BANG
OF THE PRESENT
TEASER
STORY
PROTAGONISTS
TEAM
CONTACT
1979
BIG BANG