An American production, written by Szabłowski and directed by Andrew Neel, the film features testimonies from five chefs who once cooked for Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Uganda's Idi Amin, Cambodia's Pol Pot, Chile's Augusto Pinochet and North Korea's Kim Jong-il.
According to the Tribeca Festival website, the documentary "provides an insider's perspective as to what it was like to serve as core members of these regimes, be it by choice or by force."
The website also cites film expert Kate Lemberg, who said: "Framed by interviews with journalists who dive into the violence conducted by these authoritarians, as well as the visceral contrast between the opulent meals served to these dictators and the living conditions of the citizens of the countries they led, this documentary delivers a chilling but necessary perspective on how authoritarians continue to flourish around the globe."
The Tribeca Film Festival is the brainchild of Robert De Niro. Szabłowski told Poland's PAP news agency that the American actor has become a strong supporter of the film.
"It was De Niro’s decision to have the film's world premiere at the Tribeca Festival," he said.
Szabłowski added that it may be the first time the rights to a Polish book have been sold directly to Hollywood.
He said his book about dictators' cooks remains highly relevant "because the times we live in are almost ideal for dictators."
At 45, Szabłowski is among Poland's most prominent non-fiction writers and journalists.
He has reported from countries including Cuba, South Africa and Iceland, and has written on topics such as Chernobyl, Turkey, illegal migration to the European Union and the 1943 massacre of Poles in Ukraine.
His books have been published in more than 30 countries. In 2020, How to Feed a Dictator was published by Penguin Random House in a translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
(mk/gs)