writer Jeffrey Alan Fiskin a list  of directors, and asked him who he thought should direct the film.  Ivan Passers name was the only one the screenwriter didnt  recognize. To investigate the director, Fiskin and a couple of  United Artists executives screened Passers 1965 Czech film Intimate  Lightning and agreed that he was the man to direct the film.  Interestingly enough, in 1971, Passer delivered the film Born to Win  to United Artists.