– We are glad that the world premiere of “Peasants” will take place at the Toronto International Film Festival. The festival’s mission is to “change the way people perceive the world through film”, and this philosophy is close to our hearts. The adaptation of “Peasants” also allowed us to bring the world closer to Reymont’s amazing novel, which, despite the Nobel Prize, is currently largely unknown outside Poland. I couldn’t imagine a better place than Toronto to share this epic with foreign audiences for the first time, says Hugh Welchman, co-director and producer of “The Peasants” from BreakThru Films.
The world premiere of “Peasants” at the Toronto International Film Festival
DK Welchman also emphasizes that “The Peasants” are definitely more spectacular than the film about Vincent Van Gogh: – The scale of the two films is incomparable. “Loving Vincent” is an intimate film with a lot of static shots and dialogues. “The Boys” is a real spectacle. In the film we have impressive dance scenes, battles. These are incredibly dynamic shots, the camera often follows the hero, a lot is happening in the frame. Working on two films obviously brought challenges, with Loving Vincent we created many original solutions, but Peasants set the bar much higher – he points out.
“Peasants” directed by DK Welchman (Dorota Kobiela) were made, like the Oscar-nominated “Loving Vincent”, in the technique of painting animation. The crew first shot shots with the cast. The “Chłopy” stars Mirosław Baka, Ewa Kasprzyk, Sonia Bohosiewicz, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Dorota Stalińska, Andrzej Konopka, Maciej Musiał and Julia Wieniawa. The main role – Jagna – is played by Kamila Urzędowska. Then the painters began to work, painting each of the filmed frames as an oil painting inspired by the works of the Young Poland period. Interpretations of the works of such masters of Polish painting as Józef Chełmoński, Ferdynand Ruszczyc and Leon Wyczółkowski were woven into the film. Over 100 artists worked on the material in four studios in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Serbia. In total, about 80,000 images were created, which took a total of 200,000 hours to create. This is not the end, because a group of animators created intermediate frames to make the whole thing smooth and pleasing to the eye.
“After years of working on a film about Vincent van Gogh, I felt a strong urge to talk about women: their struggles, passion and strength,” says DK Welchman. It is women, in particular the tragic figure of Jagna, who will be at the heart of the plot. The unique microcosm of the rural community will become a pretext to tell a universal and incredibly up-to-date story. A story about tragic love and life in a small community, where the rules and brutal rules of the game assign everyone a specific place in the group, and going beyond the narrow framework threatens humiliation and rejection.
Next Film is the distributor of the film in Poland. The Polish premiere is scheduled for October 13. The first screenings of “Peasants” in Poland will take place during the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, where the film takes part in the Main Competition.
New Europe Film Sales has sold Peasants to over 40 countries, including German-speaking Europe (Plaion), France (The Jokers), Benelux (Paradiso), South Korea (First Run), China (JL Film), Scandinavia (Another World Entertainment) and Spain (Karma). The company is negotiating with buyers in the UK and North America, Australia and Japan.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
