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Operation Valkyrie II

On July 20, 1944, at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg arrives from Berlin to attend a high-level military briefing with Adolf Hitler. The film moves between quiet, almost mundane moments of daily life inside the headquarters, morning routines, guarded corridors, officers at work, and the growing tension beneath the surface. In the oppressive summer heat, as conversations unfold and orders are exchanged, Stauffenberg prepares to carry out a carefully planned assassination attempt.

The narrative builds through small, precise actions rather than spectacle, following his movements from arrival to the conference room where the bomb is placed. The explosion that follows fails to achieve its goal, and within hours the conspiracy begins to collapse. What remains is a portrait of a moment suspended between routine and catastrophe, where history turns, but not enough to change its course

  • Jacek Kadaj
    Director
  • Jacek Kadaj
    Writer
  • Jacek Kadaj
    Producer
  • Jacek Kadaj
    Cinematography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 30, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Poland
  • Country of Filming:
    Poland
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35 : 1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • A1Gen01 Labs
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Jacek Kadaj

Jacek Kadaj is a cinematographer, photographer, and new media artist with over 30 years of experience in traditional filmmaking. A graduate in Cinematography from the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, Poland, his award-winning work has been exhibited internationally, published by National Geographic and Getty Images, and commissioned by global brands such as Nike, Microsoft, and Samsung. In recent years, he has been exploring the creative potential of generative AI, blending cutting-edge technology with an auteur’s sensitivity to craft intimate, emotionally resonant visual stories.

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Director Statement

This film is not about the explosion itself, but about the moments that surround it.

I was interested in the contrast between routine and rupture, how an ordinary morning, filled with small, almost insignificant actions, can exist just minutes before a decisive historical event. The heat, the waiting, the repetition of daily gestures, all of it creates a quiet tension that often goes unnoticed in traditional retellings.

Using generative AI allowed me to approach this story in a different way, not by reconstructing history literally, but by building atmosphere, fragments, and impressions. It became less about accuracy in every detail, and more about capturing a feeling, a sense of inevitability.

This film is an attempt to explore how new tools can expand cinematic language, especially in historical storytelling, where memory, interpretation, and imagination often overlap.