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John Woltowicz is the central figure in this documentaire about a bank robbery - with hostage-taking - in the summer of 1972 in Brooklyn. Woltowicz is the bank robber who committed this crime to pay for the sex change of his then lover. The story of the raid was adapted in the successful Hollywood movie Dog Day Afternoon, featuring Al Pacino as Woltowicz. Filmmaker Walter Stokman wanted to find the true story behind the tragic events. His chiefly telephonic negotiations with Woltowicz about the latter's collaboration on the documentary are alternated with scenes from the feature film, archive footage of the robbery, footage of Woltowicz's appearance on a talk show and interviews with people who were closely connected with the bank robber. This results in a balanced and at times shocking portrait of a now almost mythical man.

Credits

Executive producer
Set geluid
Production company
Kasander Film
TV company
VPRO TV

Title: Based on a True Story
Year: 2004
Duration : 1 hour, 13 minutes
Category: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2005

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Stills

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